Harry Potter and the Lost Dumbledore
by moonlitroses733
Summary: Complete, aside from editing! Voldemort's back, Dumbledore's dead and the entire magical world is under siege. The Order is now on their way to collapsing, and only one person can save them all. But what if this girl isn't who everyone thinks she is?
1. The Loss

_Alright guys, so this isn't an actual update, but I decided I wanted to re-write the first chapter in an attempt to make it better. I did like what I had written before, but this one just worked out a lot better than the previous one. It shows a lot more emotion I think, and that's exactly what I tried to strive for._

Summary: For those of you who are new to the fanfiction; Elizabeth Jane Dumbledore is an eighteen-year-old girl with the weight of the world on her shoulders. She has just lost the last person that truly cared about her, and now she's on her own, struggling with the massive responsibility he has left for her. She's a protector, and she must protect the Chosen One from Voldemort. However, what happens when things become too hard to bear? What happens when feelings develop that should have never been there in the first place? And what if she isn't who everybody thinks she is? Only time will be able to lay out Lizzie Dumbledore's future...

_For those of you who have been following, I found the perfect song to go along with this chapter! _All of this Past by Sarah Bettens. :)

**Disclaimer: **Obviously I'm not JK Rowling...

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Chapter One: The Loss

_Deep __within my heart there was a penetrating feeling that seeped through the rest of my body. _It was a feeling that I hadn't felt in years—not since my previous guardian's had died by Voldemort's hand at any rate. My head snapped out of its current daydreaming reverie and suddenly all my attention was focused on my intuition.

Something was wrong, something was horribly wrong.

I turned my head slowly and looked over my shoulder at the stained glass window in the back of the classroom I was sitting in, and I saw the night sky tremble and quake. There were few things in the magical world that could make the sky tremble so, and knowing that only heightened my sense of fear.

Suddenly, lightening tore through the velvety sky and illuminated the entire classroom as it left a scar of light upon the night. When I squeezed my eyes shut, I saw it: a nauseatingly green mark searing through the sky; the skull sizzling maliciously as a snake curled out of its mouth. _Death._

Without even telling Professor Barnes that I was leaving his lesson, I picked up my bag and started shoving my books into it. A moment passed and I was running toward the door in the back of the room as Professor Barnes finally realized I was leaving. He was shouting something, but I couldn't hear him—my mind was focused on one thing and one thing only.

_Oh Merlin Grandpa Albus, please let this not be you, please…please._

&

Clenching my fists in my lap, I willed myself not to let the big, fat tears of anguish fall from my eyes as I watched the mahogany casket carrying the only man who had ever been there for me proceed slowly up the large aisle way.

Hundreds of people—no thousands of people had shown up to this…this funeral. He had touched so many people's lives, and now these people were paying their respects to him, hoping he would pass onto the next life peacefully. Many of these people were students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft of Wizardry, the school he presided over for much of his long life. There was a stillness in the air, a stark numbness that seemed to envelop everything in its folds. Even the small children remained silent on this day…on this monumental day of mourning.

I, Elizabeth Jane Dumbledore, should have been sitting in the very front row of the proceedings. I was the only relation that Albus Dumbledore had left…I was his granddaughter, but in reality I was more or less of a daughter to him.

But none of that mattered now.

He was gone forever.

Sitting several rows back from the front, I watched the proceeding in mute silence and simply stared at the casket as it hovered above the ground, my face as blank as a sheet of parchment. Clenching my jaw, I willed myself not to cry, and yet the tears continued to burn the back of my eyes and throat.

Someone was saying something, and then someone else—Professor McGonagall—stood up and continued the eulogy with much more emotion than the first person. She was crying and choked on most of the words she tried to say, but even so, she managed to get them out.

Many more people stood up to say things, but I could hardly hear them. I had gone deaf in the course of a day, and I chose not to hear anything anyone said to me. There was too much pain for me to deal with, and having people talk to me only made it unbearable.

I closed my eyes and even as my eyelids fluttered, I felt myself sinking away from everything else going on in the real world. I was floating upwards, toward my grandfather's remarkable laughter. I sighed and opened my eyes once more. As much as I wished to hear his laugh, or to see his twinkling blue eyes—the same I had inherited—again, I would never be able to. I had to move on, that much was clear.

Many rows in front of me, a boy with jet black hair that didn't seem to cooperate, and piercing emerald eyes that seemed to glimmer from behind his glasses turned and stared at me. His eyes met mine, and quickly I looked away. Without even seeing the lightening bolt shaped scar on his head, I would have known who this was. I had seen newspaper articles on him; I had also heard many things about him from my grandfather.

This was the Chosen One, or the Boy Who Lived…this was Harry Potter.

I took a deep breath and looked past Harry, but I could still feel his searching eyes on me. He wanted to know who I was, and what on earth I was doing here, but he would never ask the questions. No, he was still in such a shocked state he wouldn't be able to.

They were doing something as my grandfather's casket was finally lowered to the ground. Once the mahogany touched the grass, something magical happened and a sheer, white light blinded the entire assembly. Just as soon as it had appeared, it faded away and in its wake was a gleaming, white marble tomb with the words: _Here Lies Albus Dumbledore, Beloved Headmaster, Beloved Friend, _engraved upon it.

I shook my head at the inscription; that wasn't enough to describe him, there was never enough to describe Albus Dumbledore, and there never would be. He was truly remarkable, and one of the rarest gems in this world.

Taking a deep, shuddering breath I closed my eyes once again and let my world slip away, if only for a few moments. When I opened them again, most everybody was gone and there was only a rather tall and gangly boy with flaming red hair, a girl with loads of bushy brown hair, another girl with flaming red hair and second boy with untidy black hair—_Harry._

I watched the group with faint interest for a moment, and watched as Harry put his hand on the red haired girl's shoulder. The girl nodded and wiped at her eyes before turning away and walking back up the aisle way. I could see she was in pain as she walked by me; our eyes met for a brief moment before she disappeared completely.

The tall and gangly boy, and the bushy haired girl stood there for a few moments longer, but they, too, walked back up the aisle way. The bushy haired girl was softly crying as she walked past me, and the gangly boy gently wrapped an arm around her. He met my eyes and nodded briefly before quickly walking away with the girl.

Gingerly, I stood and fixed my cloak around my throat. I was going to have to wait to appear here again, I would have to come at dusk. _But that suits me just fine,_ I thought as I began to walk up the aisle way. _After all, it was his favorite time of day._

_-&--&--&-_

_Soo any opinions on the changes? Or what about new readers, do you have anything to say? Hit the review button and make my day!_


	2. Goodbye Grandpa Albus

_Hey guys! I'm here with another revamped chapter. Now, it can be either for those readers who don't want to let reading this story go yet, or I really did it in hopes to attract more readers (and therefore reviews ;D). But here it is, and I hope those of you who have read it before will enjoy the new improvements I've made to it._

_Ah, and to continue building soundtrack we have two songs: _Sacrifice _on the_ Buffy the Vampire Slayer soundtrack _and_ She walked Away _by the _Barlow Girls. _The last song describes a lot of the actual wording in this chapter, so I sort of flipped out when I remembered it!_

_Read&Review!_

**Disclaimer:** I'm still not her...

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Chapter Two: "Goodbye Grandpa Albus"

_Slowly __I walked down the carpeted aisle way that had not been moved since the funeral today._ Tears burned in my eyes, threatening to spill. I willed them back knowing that Grandpa Albus would not want me to cry. He would want me to be brave for what was coming.

I gently touched the white marble tomb, running my fingers over the intricate carvings on it. "Grandpa Albus…" I whispered quietly, wiping a stray tear from my cheek. "Who did this to you? I—" I stopped suddenly, hearing someone coming up from behind me. Adrenaline pushing through my veins, I whirled around and drew my wand in one swift motion.

"Whoa!" It was those brilliant, emerald eyes again, staring back at me.

Without hesitation, I twirled the wand and put it away as I muttered, "Sorry Harry."

"How did you know…?" But before he even finished his question, he frowned and traced the obvious scar on his forehead. "Ah, of course."

"You don't like being recognized do you?" I asked quietly when he stepped beside me.

He didn't say anything for a moment, but then nodded slowly. "It's not always easy being the 'Chosen One'," He said heavily, and I could hear the touch of anger in his voice. But what I also heard was ultimate pain, but this pain wasn't for himself; this pain was for Grandpa Albus.

"Hmm…" I looked over at him and weighed my words carefully before saying, "I know what its like, but in retrospect. You see, I'm always hidden from view and I can never just _be_."

"Why are you always hidden?" He asked curiously.

I thought for a long moment before responding with, "For my protection…for others…because of certain issues that have arisen as of late."

"Voldemort?"

My eyes met his. "Yes."

"I'm surprised."

"Beg pardon?" I asked, utterly confused by his bold statement.

"Oh—no, what I mean is that normally when I say his name people flinch or react violently to it," He explained quickly as a faint blush spread across his cheeks. "But I guess people are getting better now…like my friend, Hermione." He shrugged and let his gaze travel up to the castle.

"I grew up hearing his name. Fear of the name increases fear of the thing itself." I said, gently touching the marble tomb.

"Professor Dumbledore once said something like that to me. I was in my first year just after I had just defeated Voldemort for the first time in ten years," He told me with a sad, reserved smile as he remembered the day. His fingers were suddenly beside mine, and he was also gently touching the tomb.

I smiled wryly. "It would sound like Gra—Dumbledore," I said quickly, noticing my slip and covering it as quickly as I could. _Merlin, please let him not pick up my slip, please._

"How did you know Dumbledore?" He asked curiously as he raised an eyebrow. It was evident that he did, indeed, pick up on the slip.

"Doesn't everyone know him?" I countered smoothly. Years of living with one of the most brilliant wizards had easily allowed me to hone my own wit in time.

"It sounds like you knew him personally. If you were just an acquaintance, I doubt you would be down here at dusk, hours after the funeral," He said, offsetting my excuse.

I took a deep breath; this I had not expected. He was smarter than he led on. "Perhaps I knew Dumbledore," I replied evasively. "Perhaps I knew him personally, but do you think I'm a Death Eater or something?"

For an instant, cold fury flashes in his eyes, but then it quickly cleared away as he looked at me. "I don't know, are you?" He was leaving me a choice, letting me know that I had to choose my own destiny. Merlin, Grandpa really did train him right.

I looked at him, jutting my chin out just a bit and quirking an eyebrow in determination. "My name is Elizabeth Jane Porter," I told him evenly and could practically hear the certainty in my voice. "I am not a Death Eater—in fact I despise Voldemort and everything that he does." I spat angrily and felt my nails biting into my palms. Jerkily, I turned back to the tomb and tried to relax. "Actually…" I began, my voice no more than a whisper. "I would like to know the identity of Dumbledore's killer." I looked back at him. "Rumors have flown around that you were with him when he died…are they true?"

He considered me for a long moment before answering, "Yes, I was with Professor Dumbledore when he died…" He hesitated again and a dark cloud passed over his face. "As for the identity of his murderer, it was Severus Snape."

Suddenly every little ounce of composure I had built up had crashed away and I was trembling uncontrollably. Rage welled up within me as I remembered hearing my grandfather talk about how Snape was trustworthy; he was forgiven for his mistakes, and more. I pictured Snape with his greasy hair, his hooked nose and that sallow skin…my blood started boiling as I pictured him daring to raise his wand against someone so brilliant—against my grandfather. _"He trusted him!" _I cried out as my rage had not subsided.

Harry, taken aback by my sudden outburst blinked his eyes a few times before nodding in agreement. "I know," He told me cautiously, thinking that any wrong move might send me over the edge. "If there's one person in the world I want to kill right now, its Severus Snape."

All the rage that had crawled up within me suddenly crashed back down in the pit of my stomach as I turned and looked wildly at Harry. I'm sure I must have looked like an insane person, but I didn't even care. "You must never stray from your true objective Harry," I told him passionately and looked at him with eyes that asked for the commitment. "You have to kill Voldemort, you have to promise me that you'll kill Voldemort."

He stepped back, slightly intimidated by my sudden flare of intensity. "I'm trying," He told me weakly and shook his head. "I was trying—we were trying."

"Keep trying! Don't give up!" I nearly screamed at him, and quickly shut my mouth before I started to. Looking at him, I merely tried to convey the desperateness of the situation through my eyes.

"I'm not giving up," He promised me solemnly. "I have to keep going—I know I do. What I don't understand," He started, completely derailing me with the switch of topic. "Is how you knew so much about Dumbledore to begin with?"

Locking eyes with him, I knew that I couldn't get out of this one without twisting someone's arm. "That's going to have to remain a mystery," I replied smoothly, hoping desperately that he would just give up wanting to know how I was connected to Grandpa. I put my hands back on the marble tomb and lowered my lips to the pure whiteness. In a hushed whisper, I said, "Goodbye Grandpa Albus." Glancing sideways, I saw that Harry was still staring at me intently, but I knew he couldn't hear me. As I pulled away, I said, "I'll miss you."

Straightening up, I glanced at Harry one last time before beginning to walk away. I made it about two feet from the tomb before I felt a hand touch my arm, and then pull me around. As I spun around, I saw Harry's emerald eyes glittering in the darkening sky.

"I feel like I know you," He admitted as he stared into my eyes with his green ones. "I feel like I've always known you…are you from here?"

Shrinking against the intensity of his stare, I shook my head and said, "From Hogwarts? No, I receive my education elsewhere."

"I was close with Dumbledore…he never mentioned you," He said uncertainly, his hand still holding fast to my arm.

"Dumbledore never mentioned a lot of things to you Harry," I replied honestly and watched his face twist as though he had tasted something disgusted. "But perhaps I can tell you in time…I daresay you'll see me again." Swiftly, I pulled my arm out of his grip and began walking away once more.

"What do you mean by that Elizabeth?" Harry called after me.

"Please, call me Lizzie," I said, turning to look over my shoulder. "And time will only tell Harry." I turned back around and continued walking in the path I had started in, but Harry's voice made me stop once again.

"So I will meet up with you again Lizzie?" He called up to me, the tone in his voice evidently anxious and hopeful. When I turned to look back at him, his eyes were eager and a hopeful smile played on his lips.

Not wanting to make his wounds deeper, I merely cocked my head and called back, "What do you think?"

"What I want is for us to meet once again," He replied and took one step forward before stopping and staring back at Grandpa's tomb. "I think that's what he wants anyways."

I dropped my eyes and let a small smile creep on my lips before saying, "I'm sure Albus Dumbledore wanted a lot of things Harry, and I wouldn't be surprised if bringing the two of us together was one of them." _Merlin Grandpa, you really did teach Harry right_, I thought with a raw tinge of pride.

A grin broke through the solemn exterior that had been draped over him since the day of my grandfather's death, and I swore I saw a twinkle of delight in his eyes. "Thank you," He told me, but I wasn't sure what he was thanking me for.

"Don't forget me Harry," I reminded him gently and began to walk away again. "Because when you least expect me to return, I'll be there." And with that final note, I continued walking up the aisle way with Harry, and Grandpa's tomb, at my back as the sun began to sink into the horizon.

_There's always a way, I learned that from you…I'm going to miss you Grandpa, I really am going to miss you…_ Tears blurring my vision once more, I looked up into the darkening sky and smiled. _I'm really going to miss you._

&

_Hm, any thought-provoking statements? Or even just a review? Haha, let me know! :)_


	3. The Cold Sinks In

_Again, I'm here with a revamp rather than an actual update guys, I'm sorry if this is confusing you! Anyways, I am doing this for a reason: I believe that when you write you can only keep growing, and because I started this awhile ago, it's obvious that the story's actual style changes from the beginning to end. I hope you notice I'm trying to fix this and make it smoother for you all. :)_

_I've got no soundtrack note for this chapter, but I'm getting up there in tracks so it's probably a good thing ;) haha._

_Enjoy, and review!_

**Disclaimer:** _I'm still not JK.._

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**_Several Months Later_**

Chapter Three: The Cold Sinks In

_I __walked quickly through the near deserted streets of Diagon Alley. _I kept my head down and cloak drawn tight about me. _Dementors_, I thought savagely. _Bloody dementors._ I grimaced and looked up at the gray sky. It was cold and raining again. I cursed under my breath and passed by Ollivander's wand shop. I cast a sidelong glance in that direction, and realized that the wand shop wasn't bustling like usual—I didn't even see movement on the inside. Where on earth had Ollivander gotten to?

Carefully, I made my way up to the glass and peered inside: absolutely nothing could be seen in the blackness that surrounded the entire front room. Chewing my lip, I realized that something must have happened to Ollivander—something bad.

Somewhere behind me, I felt someone staring at my back. Instinctively I pulled up my hood and stuck my hand inside my cloak, feeling the handle of my wand—the one Ollivander himself had made me—and gripped it tightly.

I turned sharply away from Ollivander's and walked quickly up the street, the snowy-white bank of Gringotts gleaming before me. I scowled; sure enough Death Eaters were patrolling the bank. Yes, Voldemort had penetrated Diagon Alley, which was to be expected of course.

Suddenly I became aware of someone following me. My hand clenched my wand handle so tightly it might have snapped. I loosened my cloak, which would allow me to whip out my wand if I needed it. My hair stood on end and I became very alert. I turned away from Gringotts—I did not need Death Eaters on my tail.

I turned down another sharp alleyway, hearing footsteps behind me; I whipped around and aimed my wand into the person's face. "Who are you and what do you want?" I asked menacingly. My eyes narrowed when I recognized the face. It was Bellatrix Lestrange staring back at me through her heavily lidded eyes.

"Put away your wand you foolish girl," She snapped, obviously unaware of who I really was. Sneakily she lifted her hand into her robe and I saw her fist clench over something—something that was most likely her wand handle.

"No," I replied defiantly and jutted out my chin in determination. "With any luck you'll draw yours and try to kill me." The statement would prove unusual in very different circumstances, but it was commonly known that Death Eaters roamed Diagon Alley now.

"What are you doing here?" She asked contemptuously. "Shouldn't you be at Hoggy-warts?" I heard the mocking tone in her voice, probably because she knew that Dumbledore was dead and the school was sinking into a draw for the teaching of dark wizardry.

I said nothing, but I clenched my jaw in anger. How dare she insult the school like that?!

Suddenly, she seemed to understand something as she watched my eyes for a long moment. "Strange…" She muttered quietly, more to herself than me. "A girl like you shouldn't be out in Diagon Alley during the middle of the school year…a girl shouldn't even be alone in Diagon Alley." Her face twisted for a long minute and her dark eyes found mine once again, this time she was grasping for something that she couldn't seem to find. "Perhaps a little torture will get you talking?" She suggested as her hand whipped out, wand suddenly out and pointing directly. _"Cru—"_

"_NO!"_ I screamed at her, realizing she was about to perform an Unforgivable. Quickly, I kneed Bellatrix in the stomach, making her double over in pain as she struggled to suck in air once again. Flicking my wand quickly, I shouted, _"Expelliarmus!"_ and watched as her wand zoomed out of her hand before I jumped up and caught it. "What do you make of this?" I said, pointing my own wand at her throat.

Eyes wild, she backed away from me and my wand and I could feel the madness revolving within her once again. "You'll regret messing with Voldemort's right hand woman!" She screamed at me, her face paling under the extreme effort.

Narrowing my eyes, I said, "You are not Voldemort's right hand woman." As I watched her face twist in fury, I continued, "Voldemort operates alone."

"NO HE DOES NOT!" She screamed and her eyes widened to madness. "He's told me so much!" Grasping forward, almost as though she were begging, Bellatrix looked at me and for the first time I saw a supremely vulnerable creature.

Taking two steps back, I threw her wand at the ground and said, "You're pathetic Bellatrix Lestrange, and you are clearly not worth my time."

&

I walked up and down the streets of Hogsmade angrily. Why _didn't I think?_ I found myself asking. _It was so obvious _someone _would have been there!_ I was beside myself for being so stupid. Obviously Voldemort had set Death Eaters all around Diagon Alley—that was obvious. The Ministry, Hogsmade—everywhere would be infiltrated with them! _I need to find the Order of the Phoenix._ I thought suddenly. _Harry Potter will be with the Order!_

I Disapparated as quickly as I had come and ended up in the streets of London. It was cold, miserable and drizzling. The mist that hung in the air was impenetrable and it clung to me, nearly making me retch. Suddenly, I froze in the midst of what I was about to do and realized something was very off about the place I had Apparated into. As I breathed out, I saw my breath form a puff of white, and slowly my eyes traveled toward a dripping gutter, which had suddenly stopped and froze over.

_Dementors_.

The thought was more like a whisper in my already confused mind, but I knew that I was in danger. Slowly, I turned to look over my shoulder and saw the things—three horrible, reeking, deathly creatures that were going to take my life if I gave them the chance.

Without hesitation, I whipped out my wand and pointed it to the air, screaming, _"Expecto Patronum!"_ just as the first dementor sailed out of the sky to try and take my soul. A silver phoenix erupted out of the end of my wand and immediately shielded me from the thing that could only bring sadness, and I concentrated solely on my happiest memory and watched as my phoenix beat back the dementor with a ferocity I had never seen.

Shortly after, the other dementors descended upon me and I had to fight to keep control of my happiness as they soared around me, eager for a little snack. Holding my wand steady, I screamed out and my phoenix rushed past all three dementors and fought them away from me, and just as quickly as they had appeared, the dementors disappeared along with the silvery phoenix.

Gasping for air, I fell forward and caught my knee on the rough cobblestone beneath me. Hissing in pain, I looked up into the sky and recognized the chill of evil that seemed to envelop all of London. _Bloody hell,_ I thought. _I didn't expect London to fall so hard._

After resting for a few moments, I pushed myself to my feet and looked around. _Now if only I could find the headquarters. _Sliding my wand back into my pocket, I began walking once more, but this time my pace was quicker. My eyes darted left and right, looking for some sort of sign that might indicate the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix.

But I didn't have to look very far.

"GET OFF ME YOU FILTHY DEATH EATER!" Someone screamed and suddenly there was a red bolt of light and a body flying through the air. The speaker, a tall, gangly redhead, ran forward and aimed his wand once more at the man on the ground. _"Petrificus Totalus!"_ He shouted and watched with satisfaction as the body seized up like a board.

Pulling out my wand, I ran forward just as the redheaded boy turned around and ran back to the group. Holding it in front of me, I crested a hill and as I stood at the top, I froze and looked at the scene below me.

Death Eaters and Order members tangled in fights that were unbelievable—especially in broad daylight in the middle of a Muggle street. Black and silver smoke swirled around quickly, covering everything in view, and then there were the bright lights of flashing spells.

A bushy-haired girl screamed, _"Stupefy!"_ and flung her wand out as the red light jolted from it, hitting its mark squarely in the chest. "RON!" She screamed in panic as the redhead from before stumbled to the ground. _"Reducto!" _Her wand was aiming at the nearest bricks, and quickly they came tumbling down on top of the Death Eater that was going to go after Ron.

"HERMIONE MOVE!" Someone else shouted, and my eyes found Harry Potter in the crowd and he pointed his spell at a Death Eater behind Hermione, the bushy-haired girl, and cried, _"Expelliarmus!" _

Looking up into the sky, I realized it had gotten so much colder; below me, trails of water were beginning to freeze over and my breath began coming out in small puffs of white. _Bloody dementors,_ I thought savagely and lifted my wand into the air. I didn't know how well I'd be able to cast a second Patronus, but I could try. _"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"_ I bellowed as my silver phoenix erupted out of the end of my wand once more.

But that was all I saw before being hit in the back of my head with something, and quickly I fell to the ground as a burning pain engulfed me.

&

"Uungh…" I mumbled and turned onto my side, but the slight movement caused pain to course through me like never before; within moments I was reaching out for something—anything to still me as I screamed and screamed with the torturing agony that ripped through my body. My hand clasped over someone else's and I squeezed it until the point where I could cut it off.

"What's wrong with her?!" The person beside me shouted frantically and the hand tightened over mine, trying to hold me still. "HERMIONE!" The person put a hand over my shoulder and tried to stop my shaking, but I couldn't stop—the pain was too much.

There was a rushing of feet and the light sound of a cloak billowing out as the person—Hermione no doubt—fell to the floor beside the person holding my hand. "I don't know Harry—I don't know what's wrong with her—" She responded and suddenly a new set of hands were on my face, which was sweating terribly. "I don't know!"

There was the sound of footsteps coming my way, and a voice that said, "How do you know she's to be trusted?" He was gruff, rude and untrusting.

"I saw her once," Harry muttered quickly while his hand still squeezed mine.

"But you still don't know—"

"Ron," He cut across him firmly and continued, "I saw her at Dumbledore's funeral—she was there hours after everyone left." I could feel his hand gripping my shoulder again and I knew that he was looking at me.

"Oh Harry you shouldn't have gone out alone!" Hermione chided sharply and her hands left my face for the briefest of moments. "Do you realize—"

"It was on the grounds," He interrupted again and squeezed my shoulder once more. "Hermione—"

"Oh Harry—" She continued admonishingly and there was a cloak passing over my head for a brief instant.

"HELP HER!" He bellowed angrily and the cloak suddenly disappeared from over my head.

Hermione hissed and took my face in her hands again. "I'm trying!" She responded sharply and I heard her mumbling some words that I didn't know, but as she mumbled them I felt myself become conscious of everything on a more physical level.

Suddenly, my eyes flew open and I could see everyone crouching around me, eagerly looking on to make sure I was alright. Time seemed to freeze for a slight second as the pain stilled, but suddenly everything came back in a greater force than before. "HELP ME!" I screamed in anguish. Grasping for Hermione's hand I cried, "I'm dying—help me!" I could feel the snake sliding up my veins, hoping it would be able to strangle me for good.

"No, no you aren't dying," Harry responded briefly and pulled me up to him. "Relax—you're not dying, this is just some sort of ruse—listen to me, just listen to me." Once I was gathered into the crook of his arms, he said, "You're not going to die if I have anything to say about it."

Looking up into his brilliant emerald eyes and the comfort of being safely wrapped in someone's arms made my breathing relax and my eyes began to glaze over once more. I blinked them slowly and let a tired smile pass over my lips as the pain ebbed away. "Thank you…" I breathed and reached up to touch his face. "Harry Potter."

&

What might have been a day, or a week that had gone by, I would never know. Some time after being in the arms of Harry Potter, I awoke in a semi-comfortable bed in semi-darkness. With a start I sat up, only to experience pain in my side. I clutched it and looked around: I recognized none of what was strewn around me.

Panic stricken, I let my eyes scan over the room to try and find a means of escape, but my thoughts were interrupted as soon as the door to the room opened. Lurching back in the bed, I turned wildly on the door and saw the same girl from before—Hermione—walking in with a tray laden with food.

"Who—who are you?" I stammered, groping for my wand on the nearest table, but I couldn't find it.

"Oh—oh I'm sorry," She said, nearly dropping the tray. "I'm—I'm Hermione Granger, pleased to meet you." She swiftly set the tray down and offered her hand.

I shook it kindly. "I'm Lizzie Porter," I said. "You didn't have to do this…" I said, indicating the tray.

"Nonsense!" She said, shaking her head. "You were nearly dead when Harry found you, I had to do something. No doubt you witnessed the attack?"

"Oh…well I sort of helped you for a little bit, but I blacked out as soon as the dementors came. You see, I had alright fought off three of them in Diagon Alley so my strength was sapped," I explained in a rush and paused to take a breath. "What was happening anyways?"

Hermione's face darkened as she said, "Death Eaters found the Order's meeting place unfortunately—" Here she cut herself off and looked at me with wide brown eyes. "What were you doing in London? Specifically in Grimmauld Place?" Her look turned suspicious as I hesitated for a long minute before answering.

"I was looking for someone…I know about the Order and I thought he might be there."

"Who were you looking for?" Her hands stilled at her sides and I could see the handle of her wand poking through her robes.

"Harry Potter," I answered swiftly and turned my face up to meet her gaze.

"Harry's…" She hesitated for a minute before continuing. "Harry's here."

Ignoring the way she hesitated, I plowed on with my own questions. "Where exactly is 'here' anyways?" While I waited for her to answer, I reached for some tea and delicately set it in front of me.

Hermione's face clouded again as she continued to regard me with brown eyes, searching for traces of lies or something of that sort. But her search was cut short by someone who burst through the bedroom door and scared her half to death, "Ronald!"

Though I had seen the boy before, I was startled by his strange appearance again: tall and gangly with a load of freckles and vivid red hair, Ronald made me suppress a grin as he came barging into the room with a look of sheer determination blazing in his hazel eyes.

"You were up here for such a long time Harry and I thought something had happened," He explained quickly as his eyes passed from Hermione to me, and once they met mine his face hardened into a frown.

She sighed, "No Ron, I'm fine. Lizzie woke up though." Glancing back at me she offered a wary smile and looked back toward Ron.

His eyes grew dark and suspicion clouded his face, much as it did Hermione's earlier. "Ah," He replied shortly and stepped further into the room. Slowly, but not unnoticeably, his hand brushed past his wand.

"Ronald, don't be like that," She admonished sternly as she caught the slight movement. "Lizzie isn't on You-Know-Who's side."

The statement surprised me, and I stared open-mouthed at Hermione's head for a full minute before I had the sense to snap it shut. If Hermione trusted me that meant that I could do my job easier.

"But still, it was fishy when she turned up, wasn't it?"

"Ronald!!" She shouted at him. "Stop doing that—!" Suddenly, she was cut off by the appearance of another boy in the doorway, who was grinning at their argument no doubt.

"It really isn't nice to wake someone up with your bloody shouting," He said laughingly and walked into the room, stepping alongside Ron. "But you could have lit up the place I suppose." With a flick of his wand, candles flickered to life all around the room.

Shrinking back, I let my eyes adjust to the light and finally saw Harry. He was still the same person I had seen all those months ago at Grandpa Albus' funeral, but in some ways this war had changed him, hardened him almost. I managed a small smile in his direction before murmuring, "Harry Potter."

"Lizzie," He said with a nod. "I'm glad you're all right…I see you've met Hermione, and Ron."

"Actually," I said, rounding on Ron with a tight smile. "Ron and I never introduced ourselves properly." I extended a hand and waited for him to take it. "Lizzie Porter."

He took it apprehensively. "Ron Weasley."

My eyes flicked to his red hair and I offered a tight grin, "Of course."

He didn't do anything in return and dropped my hand quickly.

Harry stepped around Ron and scowled at him for a brief moment before asking, "Do you guys mind giving us a moment?"

Ron's look grew even darker. "Don't you go fooling around on my sister, mate!" He nearly shouted at Harry.

"Ronald!!" Hermione hissed and snatched his arm. "Give it a rest!"

"I just don't want this girl to kill Harry, that's all," He snapped angrily, obviously forgetting about the fact he just yelled at Harry not to fool around on his sister.

"If you noticed, she's our age Ronald," Hermione exclaimed. "She's not a thing, her name is Lizzie. Bloody hell, get it right."

"She's still able to kill Harry," He argued pointedly as he continued to glare daggers at me. "Doesn't anyone else find it fishy that she just happened to show up when a slew of Death Eaters did?"

"Ronald Weasley," She practically screamed at him. "I, frankly, do not find anything wrong with Lizzie and I think you need to get your head out of the air for one second!" Huffing, she turned on her heel and marched out of the room.

"Hermione!" Ron called after her, and obediently turned around and started following her, but not before throwing another look at me.

It was silent for a long moment until Harry finally sat down in a chair near the bed. I sat up and looked at him curiously for a moment. "You've gotten along reasonably well for the whole Ministry and the whole Death Eater lot tracking you," I noted casually.

He looked up at me. "Oh…yeah…I've had loads of help though." He stared back at the floor again, thinking intently.

"What are you thinking so hard about?" I asked incredulously.

"It's just…" He started, looking back at me. "You knew we were going to meet again, didn't you?"

I laughed—this wasn't what I expected. "I didn't _know_ if we would, but I definitely wanted to try. Harry, you need me more than you realize—even though you have two wonderful friends beside you."

He gave me a searching look. "I don't get you Lizzie," He admitted. "I see you one day, kissing Albus Dumbledore's tomb, and now I see you again in the streets of London, almost dead. Again I ask, though I probably won't receive an answer, but how do you know Dumbledore?"

I smiled slightly. "I knew it would come to this," I told him. "But trust me, you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me." He leaned forward, almost waiting to jump at any answer I gave him.

"I'd rather not." I stared into his eyes, then backed away realizing how close he was.

Sensing my closure, he pulled away and folded his arms across his chest. "Maybe you can help us then."

"I can do more than help you."

"What?"

"I can protect you."

"Hermione's done a magnificent job casting protective spells around the house—"

"I'm sure she has. She's a brilliant witch, I know, but this protection is solely for _you_." I interrupted, realizing that I probably sounded strange. "You are in the gravest danger of all Harry Potter, and while Hermione can protect herself and Ron, what's coming after you is far worse."

Harry opened and closed his mouth several times before he finally said, "I don't need any more people dying for me."

"I know Harry, I know," I whispered as tears began to choke me once again. "But you have no idea how much danger you're really in."

&

_Any comments?_


	4. You Aren't the Only One

_Again with a revamped chapter, but I can only make it better :) Same deal, just tweaking the style to match it with the rest of my story. As I get into later chapters (like chapter 11 and so forth) I have less editing to do so I'm thinking the revamps will stop around chapter 15. _

_Anyways, enjoy this (if you haven't read it yet) or enjoy it again! Reviews are wonderful ;)_

**Disclaimer:** _I'm not, nor have I ever been, JK Rowling._

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Chapter Four: You Aren't the Only One

_Over __the next few days we stayed at the little cottage which turned out to be by the sea. _Many times during the next few days, I went out and visited the sea for awhile, somehow imagining myself to be with Grandpa Albus. It was a comforting thought, but I knew it wasn't true, he was gone forever.

Of those times, Harry joined me a lot. Whenever I looked into his eyes I could tell he was searching for something, and then I saw what I feared most: a tender spot for me. This I hated because I knew that it would somehow interfere with what I was supposed to do. If I didn't do my job right, a life would perish and I would not have that.

Out of the three of them, Harry and Hermione took an interest in me almost instantly. Ron, however, seemed the only one to have his guard still firmly put up.

And again, just like so many days before, I was sitting out on the ledge and staring at the sea, watching the way the waves crested upon the rocks below and just enjoying the natural stillness of the air. But then I heard footsteps behind me, and I tensed for a moment, but cheerfully called out, "Hello Harry."

"Um…it's not Harry."

In complete shock, looked over my shoulder and saw Ron standing there, rubbing his hand over the back of his neck awkwardly. "Oh…" I muttered, narrowing my eyes slightly. "Ronald," I said with a curt nod and taking on Hermione's habit of calling him by his full name when she was angry or annoyed with him.

"Do you mind if I…uh sit down?"

I shrugged nonchalantly and turned back to look out into the sea; I heard him shuffle for a moment and sit down beside me, but he didn't say anything for a long time. It was no matter to me, I didn't really mind the silence anyways.

"Listen…after spending the last few days with you I've come to a conclusion."

"Oh have you?" I asked, sounding an awful lot like Hermione.

"Yes…I've concluded that you're all right."

"You've caught on, have you?"

"Yeah…see I've reckoned that you aren't a Death Eater or anything. If you were you would have given them the location of our whereabouts. Also, the way Harry seems to know you…I don't know. You seem awful helpful in everything too," He explained hurriedly, wanting to get it out in one breath.

I looked over at him. "You know, I really don't take kindly to being given hateful looks or being told I'm a Death Eater."

"Well, I'm really sorry about that. I reckon I shouldn't have…it just sort of slipped out in the moment you see. I was riled up and everything…" But he failed to explain everything else and just looked at me with a hopeful glimmer in his eye.

Holding his gaze for a moment longer, making him feel the cold anger I had felt the past few days from him, I watched him tense uncomfortably. But suddenly I burst out laughing and shook my head. "Ron you are so thick-headed," I said jokingly. "Maybe if you used your head a little more you would have realized this days ago."

Ron shifted uncomfortably again, but he did have an argument, "It's not like you can go around trusting everyone these days…"

The statement caught me off guard and I sobered up instantly. "Oh I know that more than anyone," I told him with a dark undertone in my voice. "And you were right not to trust me."

"So are we all right then?"

I gave him a significant look. "You're asking me?"

"Well I feel bad for treating you horribly—"

"Don't worry about it," I said, cutting across him. "We're fine." I extended a hand and he shook it gratefully, but when he tried to pull away I clasped my fingers around it firmly. "But don't cross me again."

He grinned foolishly and stared out into the sea. "It's a pretty view…so this is why you and Harry have been out here so much."

"Whenever I want to be alone I come out here. Sometimes Harry tags along."

"Then you wouldn't be alone if Harry joined you," He pointed out.

"I don't ask him to come out here with me," I said with a frown. "Ron, we just created a friendship, don't ruin it with foolishness."

"I'm just worried about my sister, that's all. I don't want Harry—"

"I don't get why you'd think that Harry fancies me. I don't see it frankly, nor am I ensuing feelings of my own." I interrupted him tightly. "I know how much Ginny likes Harry and I wouldn't dare take that away from her."

"Right," He said with a short not. "I'm sorry for suspecting."

"No problem," I shrugged again, but this time it was more tense than usual.

He waited for a minute longer before standing, obviously sensing I had closed myself off to conversation once more. "Well…I hope we'll become better friends later on…and well, everything."

"They will," I told him confidently, and even though our relations were strained right now I'm sure they would change in the future; but, I didn't bother to turn and look at his reaction.

&

A day later we were packing up our belongings into crafty little bags Hermione had enchanted for us. I stowed mine over my shoulder and placed my wand in my sweatshirt carefully.

Harry stared at me for what seemed to be the fifth time that morning, and again I had to pretend not to notice. It drove me insane; I had no idea why he was staring at me so much. True enough, we were spending a lot of time together, but I thought it absurd that he would fancy me.

"Are we ready?" Hermione asked, bustling into the kitchen. "Can I start lifting the protective spells?" She pulled out her own wand and prepared to lift them.

"Go ahead Hermione." I nodded.

We trooped out the door and she began murmuring incantations and waving her wand in complex ways to remove all the barriers she had put up. Ron and Harry cleaned up our evidence and I watched for Death Eaters. As soon as everything was finished, we all stood in a circle.

"Grab on everyone," I ordered quickly after I told them where we were headed specifically. It was a safe, secluded spot that no one would ever find us in—a large patch of woods near my old home. I snatched Harry's and Hermione's hands as Ron reached for my arm, and said, "One…two…three!" And suddenly all four of us felt that familiar sensation of being squeezed down a narrow tube.

But just as soon as it had come, I was able to breathe again and we all fell forward onto a patch of moss.

"Where are we?" Ron asked, letting go of my shoulder.

"The secluded woods by my old home," I answered smoothly as Hermione let go of my hand once she was able to gain her footing. "No one will find us here." I glanced to my other side and saw that Harry was still holding onto my hand, which he slowly drew away. After hesitating for a moment, I turned toward Hermione and asked, "We still have that tent, right?" It was business now, and I couldn't let anything distract me.

"My bag," Hermione answered distractedly as she had broken away from the group and started putting up the enchantments.

"Harry, Ron if you can set that up," I indicated Hermione's bag nearby and then walked over to her. "I'm going to help. You do a fantastic job, but I know a few more that will protect us," I explained to her with an award-winning smile.

Hermione's brilliance was obviously a very tender subject for her; apparently no one had ever argued it before. Her mouth turned down in a frown for a minute as she considered me, but then she sighed and regretfully nodded her head. "Of course, whatever way we can."

I pulled out my own wand and began waving it and muttering incantations like Hermione, but mine were far more powerful, but they had to be—I was the person responsible for another person's life.

"Alright," I finally muttered after awhile. "That should do it." As I put my wand back into my pocket, I felt Harry's eyes on my back and it wasn't for the first time either. "So how're you doing Ron? Harry?" I turned around and saw the tent was standing up and ready to go.

Harry grinned when I faced him. "Fantastic."

I saw Ron throw him an affronted look. Immediately, I spun around and pretended to be checking an enchantment. I did not want to lead on Harry, or make Ron suspicious. When I felt his eyes leave me, I turned back around and bustled into the tent where Hermione was doing some cooking.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Hermione's brilliance did not transfer over into her cooking skills. She stood beside a smoking pan and was beside herself with embarrassment and frustration. Finally, she whipped out her wand and poked it at the smoldering flames. _"Aguamenti."_

"Do you need some help Hermione?" I offered, wiping away the mess with a flick of my own wand. "Dinner is not an easy task," I noted with a wry grin.

She laughed. "No it isn't. I'd love some Lizzie."

I flicked my wand a few times and continued the dinner which she had started.

Not too long later we were all sitting around the table and it was a remarkably light atmosphere for what we were going through at the moment. We made jokes, talked about past experiences and conducted lively conversations that seemed to pull us away from whatever was going on out there. In fact, I noticed a heavy amount of flirting between Ron and Hermione, and all the while I felt Harry's eyes on me, but I shook it off as nothing.

However, it was really time to get down to business.

"So," I said suddenly, making them look at me. "I think we need to talk about something very important to the demise of Voldemort." I saw Hermione and Ron exchange a nervous glance with Harry before looking back at me. "There are Horcruxes in this journey I suppose?" Now Hermione started in her chair, knocking over her cup of pumpkin juice, Ron froze solid and Harry sat very still next to me. I could practically feel the tension in the air.

"How do you know about Horcruxes?" Harry asked quietly. "I thought only Dumbledore and Voldemort knew about them."

"I know a great deal more than you'd expect Harry…" I explained quietly and shifted my eyes away from the rest of the group.

"Mate, you said Dumbledore—" Ron started, but Harry cut him off.

"I know what I said, but obviously Dumbledore was lying!"

"Harry, you can't be mad at Dumbledore," I pleaded with him and curled my fingers into a fist under the table with the remembrance of my departed grandfather. "You just can't be mad at him; he did these things for a reason."

"I'm not mad," He responded tersely, and with great care he set his fork down softly. "I just don't understand why he would tell us that there were only four people who knew about the Horcruxes, when clearly there was more." He might not have been mad, but I certainly heard the contempt in his voice that made my temper rise.

"There were many things you don't understand!" I cried out and turned toward him. "You don't know everything about Dumbledore Harry."

He turned sharply and faced me. "What makes you think you know everything about him?"

"I'm not saying I knew everything about him," I retorted callously and leaned in close so he could practically smell the anger coming off of me. "I'm just saying that there were things _you_ didn't."

"Oh, and just _what_ would Dumbledore have told you?" He responded sarcastically, now standing in his spot.

"Harry, don't!" Hermione cried. "Please don't!"

"Mate, _please_ relax," Ron said in an attempt to calm the situation. "Lizzie wasn't trying to get you riled up or anything."

My entire body stilled as I listened to Ron trying hard to defend me and calm Harry in one fell swoop. However, my own temper was anything but cool as I stared ahead at the nearest wall—in fact, I was seething. "Well," I said cuttingly and stood up. "I'm going to take the first watch. Talk to me when you've cooled off a bit." And without another backwards glance I stormed out of the tent.

#

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	5. How could You have Known?

_Another revamped chapter, tweaked to fit your liking I hope :) I've got nothing more besides that to tell you, so have fun reading it!_

**Disclaimer: **_Still not JK Rowling_

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Chapter Five: "How Could You Have Known?"

_My __watch was passing slowly as I waited for the dreaded visit from Harry. _I was sitting on the cold ground, leaning against the canvas of the tent. My eyes weren't drifting shut, but they could have been; I was tired from today, and tired from every day leading up to this point it seemed. My wand, lying in my lap casually, waited to be used again, but I didn't really want to.

I didn't want to use it anymore.

Sighing, I looked up at the sky and saw stars twinkling overhead and finally let my mind remember the times I used to spend with my grandfather out here. The bond with my grandfather was special, and no matter how many times I tried to forget that he was gone, it still came back with a hard, solemn realization.

Suddenly, the tent flap stirred which caused me to jump up and hold my wand out in front of me, and then I sighed again and dropped it as Harry walked out of the tent.

I attempted a smile, but it was weak and strained so I immediately dropped it as I acknowledged him with a nod of my head.

He didn't respond, but sat down next to me and draped a blanket around my shoulders.

I took it and pulled it tightly around my narrow body. "Thanks."

"Hermione said you might need it. She also told me…well, yelled at me rather, to stop acting like an arrogant prat. Ron also whole-heartedly supported her." He sighed. "I guess I should say I'm sorry. It's just been that ever since Dumbledore died I feel as if he let me down and left me with a whole lot more than I can handle. It just seems as if there were things he should have said, but didn't. He's leaving me to fend for myself and to fend for others."

"Harry…" I whispered, leaning close to him. "I'm so sorry about everything. I want you to know that Dumbledore would have _never_ wanted to do that to you."

"I don't care, he's still gone and he's left me with everything to deal with. I can't do this alone."

"And you aren't alone," I consoled gently, letting myself slip into the role of a friend rather than the role of a 'strict business woman'. "You have Hermione and Ron…you have me. You have people who rally around you and support you. Forget those who don't, they don't matter. Don't you see Harry? You have people who will do anything for you—it's them you have to believe in!" I smiled. "You are never alone." I squeezed his arm reassuringly, and he turned to look at me with those brilliant emerald eyes. For the first time, I felt a faint flush rising on the back of my neck and I had to look away from him. "So…" I said to break the awkward silence. "About those Horcruxes…?"

Harry turned away and fell silent.

"What's wrong?" I asked quietly. "Harry?" I repeated even more urgently. "What's the matter?" I faced him and watched him run through things in his head.

"I just don't get this at all," He said heavily. "Dumbledore said that no one else knew about the Horcruxes…yet here you sit next to me and you tell me about them as if you know everything." He looked at me with a face filled with pain. "How could you have known about this? Dumbledore told no one but me."

I smiled slowly at him. _I can't tell him I'm Dumbledore's only granddaughter. That would defeat my purpose of being protector, plus Grandpa Albus said never to tell. _I sat for a minute, thinking of what to say. "I was…I am…" I bit my lip, unsure of what to say.

"What?" He asked curiously.

"Harry, I was very close to Dumbledore. The reason I was never mentioned was because he feared for my protection. He didn't want it to become too evident of the bond we shared. That is why I didn't go to Hogwarts."

"So is Voldemort tracking you down also?"

"Sort of…if Voldemort knew who I was he wouldn't hesitate to attack me...in fact he'd most likely try to kill me."

"But then why are you with us? Aren't you worried about Voldemort figuring it out and attacking you? I mean, with me you are bound to get close to him. Won't he know?"

"I'm not afraid Harry, I'm with you," I said earnestly.

His breath caught for a moment. "…Dumbledore said something like that once." He told me quietly. "You know…you're an awful lot like him."

I shied away and berated myself for letting my feelings get the best of me once again. "He's had his influences on me," I responded dismissively and quickly got up. "Do you want to take this watch?" I asked nonchalantly and began backing away; I was growing uncomfortable with how the situation was turning out, and when I got uncomfortable I became evasive and pulled away—far away. "Is that ok?"

"Sure," He responded questioningly and stood up, catching me by the elbow. "Hey, are you alright? You don't look to—Lizzie!"

I swooned and stumbled into him. "I'm—I'm fine…" I mumbled, but before the rest of the words tumbled from my lips, I fell against Harry and my world blacked out.

&

"_Harry!" I screamed as loudly as I could. Death Eaters were closing in around me. "Harry where are you?!" I raised my wand. _"Stupefy!" _I shouted and the nearest Death Eater crumpled under the spell. _"Stupefy!" _I screamed again. A jet of red light blasted out of my wand and hit the Death Eater full in the face. I whipped around and ran for it, only I ran into the arms of Severus Snape. I raised my wand to attack, but Snape closed his hand around my wrist. "Let go you murderer! You traitor!" I screamed at him, feeling my rage bubble inside my viciously._

"_No!" He hissed urgently. "No!" He wrenched my wand away from me and pulled me behind him. "I'll take care of her!" He shouted at all the Death Eaters. "The Dark Lord set me this duty and no one else!" _

"_Let go! Let go!" I screamed at him. "Harry! Harry where are you?! Ron, Hermione?!" I shouted over my shoulder. _

"_Listen," He hissed urgently. "Listen to me, if you die out there the Dark Lord will be able to reach Potter and he will die. Now apparently you care very much for him and I'm sure you wouldn't want him to die." He dragged me around to face him. "Do you?" _

"_W-what? N-no of course I don't want Harry to die." _

"_Well it just so happens that I don't want him to die either," He said quietly. "You need to keep yourself well protected, as long as you do that Potter will be safe."_

"_What about Ron and Hermione?"_

"_As for Weasley and Granger, they are more than capable to defend themselves."_

"_Against Death Eaters? Are you insane?!" I cried._

"_Keep it down, otherwise the Dark Lord—"_

"_SEVERUS SNAPE!" A cold, high-pitched voice screamed and Snape's face grew terrified—_

A scream tore from my lips as I jerked forward in the bed. "NO!" It ripped out of me again, and this time it felt as though it were coming from my chest. "NO!" I was looking around the dark tent wildly as sweat started pouring down my face.

"Whasthematter?" Ron grumbled from somewhere far away.

Abruptly a mass of bushy brown hair appeared at my bedside. "Lizzie it's ok!" She cried hysterically and wrapped her arms around me. "It's ok you're safe now!"

Ron bounded over to us, his vivid hair visible even in my blurred vision. "Lizzie what happened?" He asked urgently. "What's wrong?" He knelt next to my bed.

"Ron, get Harry," Hermione instructed carefully, seeing I was too frozen to speak. "I'll make you some tea."

"No," I whispered hoarsely, grasping her sleeve. "Don't leave me."

"O-ok," She said with a nod and knelt beside me once more.

An instant later, Harry ran in. "What's wrong? What happened to her?" He demanded. "Lizzie what's wrong?" He knelt before my bedside and grabbed the hand that was on Hermione's sleeve.

"I…I…Voldemort…" I whispered. "S-Snape…" I was too terrified to say anything more.

"Hermione make her some tea. Ron, guard the tent," He ordered quickly and got into the bed beside me and wrapped his arms around me. "Shh, shh," He whispered comfortingly.

I sobbed hysterically for a good half an hour before I could finally take the tea that Hermione offered. "Th—thanks."

"At least I can make tea all right." She nodded and smiled at me.

I laughed and then sipped the warm liquid silently for awhile, but I knew I could not put off telling my story any longer; Hermione, Harry and Ron gathered around me like a pack of dogs. "You want to know, don't you?" I mumbled against the rim of the cup.

Harry answered this question simply by putting an arm around my waist and pulling me to him. "It must be nearly daybreak, don't you think? I think we can afford to bring Ron in."

"Yes, but don't start anything without me," Hermione warned firmly and bustled out of the tent to gather Ron.

While she was doing that, Harry kissed the top of my head and whispered, "You're brave Lizzie, exceedingly brave."

I looked up at him, too stunned for words.

"Dreams about Voldemort aren't usually happy-go-lucky dreams," He explained calmly. "I would know." His face darkened for an instant, but the cloud vanished as soon as Hermione and Ron walked in.

"How are you?" Ron asked instantly. "You woke up pretty hysterical—almost like Hermione in one of her fits," He joked, receiving a much deserved swat from Hermione.

"Ronald," She said warningly.

"Joking, joking!" He cried out. "Anyways, are you all right?"

I managed to smile. "I'm fine Ron, thanks."

"You're welcome." He drew up a chair for Hermione and then one for himself. "Seeing as Harry's already got a seat…" He said pointedly.

Harry gave Ron a scathing look. "Look at the state of her Ron. Don't you go start on something while she's like this."

Ron resigned and folded his arms over his chest.

"Please don't," I whispered pleadingly. "Let me just tell you what my dream was about and then we can make our way."

"It's Voldemort, isn't it?" Harry asked seriously. "That's why you've been so weak lately; he's been getting inside you."

"That has…something to do with it I suppose," I said slowly, considering the likelihood of that possibility. "But it also doesn't make sense because he has no inkling of my existence." I chewed my lip for a long moment before continuing, "I can't think of a way that he would find out unless someone betrayed information to him, but I haven't run into anyone that would know me by name…" I sighed. "It's difficult explaining so I'm not going to try just yet…but you must understand that I did not want that to happen and I am usually talented with Occluemency—"

Hermione gave a little disapproving sniff.

I looked over at her. "What?" I asked, clearly befuddled at this reaction.

"Obviously you aren't 'usually talented' at Occluemency if Voldemort's still getting into your head."

"_If_ he is," I snapped back, putting a heavy emphasis on the 'if' part. "Voldemort is an exceptionally powerful wizard an exceptionally skilled Legilimens," I argued sharply. "Besides, this dream wasn't even like a connection with him. It was like a…prophecy…something to come more or less. And Voldemort wasn't even there, it was…Snape."

"Snape?" Harry instantly tensed next to me. "What happened? Where are they?"

"I don't know, but I was in the dream. We were fighting Death Eaters and Snape took me away…" And I launched into the tale of the dream, leaving out bits that were far too personal to share.

Harry, Ron and Hermione sat on edge the entire time. When I had finished, silence engulfed the tent for near five minutes. Finally, Hermione dared to speak.

"S-so Snape was trying to…" She shook her head. "That can't be, Snape killed Dumbledore."

"Are you sure he wasn't trying to drag you aside and kill you, then take all the glory himself?" Ron asked quietly. "I mean, come on, we all know Snape is a murderous traitor and a right foul git."

I bit my lip. "I don't know. I don't understand my dream very well. It's probably nothing, but it sent me into a right foul mood." I shivered slightly, forcing Harry to pull me even closer. He had not said a thing since I told them about my dream; to put it plainly, I was worried about him.

"Maybe it was just a dream," Ron said in agreement, and glanced pointedly at Harry again. "I bet that was it."

Hermione was a little less willing to believe that. "I don't know though. This dream seemed to shake you up a lot and it makes me nervous." She bit her lip. "I'm going to read up on prophetic dreams."

"You brought a prophetic dreams book Hermione?" Ron asked exasperatedly. "How many books did you bring?!"

"I brought what I thought we would need; and no Ronald it is _not_ a book solely on prophetic dreams. I'm sure there's something in another book of mine." She stood up. "I'm going to go take a look now." And just like that she vanished into the other room.

Ron clapped a head to his forehead. "She's insane, that one."

"And yet you fancy her," Harry teased with a raised eyebrow.

He gave Harry a dirty look. "Shut it," He retorted, and hit Harry's head.

"Watch it!" Harry said, ducking out of the way. "What's up with you?"

He glared one last time at Harry and left.

Harry glared after him. "I honestly have no idea what's wrong with him. It's like…" But, having lost the words he simply shook his head and mumbled, "Whatever."

I trembled slightly, drawing Harry out of his foul mood. "Sorry," I muttered.

"You still look pale, is there anything we can do?" He asked, touching my cheek slightly.

I shied away from his gentle touch. "No, no we should probably get out of here quickly. I don't like what I'm feeling right now."

&

_And what did you think? Hit that review button!_


	6. A Bad Feeling

_Back again with another revamped chapter. I hope you guys like it better than the original, and reviews would be utterly spectacular. I made some artwork for this story and I'll probably be putting it on my profile in a little bit. If anybody was wondering what Lizzie looks like, it's sort of along the lines of Michelle Trachtenberg from Buffy and Gossip Girl. _

_Happy Reading :)_

**Disclaimer:** _I have never claimed to be JK Rowling, and I never will (though it would be fanbloodytastic if I was!)_

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Chapter Six: A Bad Feeling

_The __day had changed from the moment the words tumbled out of my lips. _Thick tension shrouded us all until the words that escaped our mouths were terse answers to already shortened questions; our movements around the campsite were jerky and stiff, and in this way everyone seemed on edge.

Even so, Harry and Hermione at least seemed to be feeling overly protective. At all times at least one of them seemed to be at my flank, guarding me from my own feelings almost. That, above all things, put me over the edge.

"All ready?" I asked while pointedly glaring at Harry, who had once again taken his place by my side. Clutching my wand in one hand, and my bag in the other, I didn't even wait for an answer. "Alright, I'm going to start taking down the protective enchantments and then we'll all Disapparate to the Leaky Cauldron. Wait for me before you go on." Deftly, I started waving my wand and one by one dismantled the enchantments surrounding our camp. "Now."

Ron and Hermione Disapparated instantly, Harry, however, lingered behind.

He gave me a searching look with those green eyes and then Disapparated with a faint pop.

I glanced around as soon as Harry had Disapparated, and after I was about to do so myself, something hard and heavy collided into my side. I flew into the air about twenty feet and slammed back down on the ground. Miraculously I was able to hang onto my wand the whole time, though my bag went flying. Again, I was thrust crudely into the air and slammed back down. Groaning weakly, I managed to struggle up into a sitting position, but the entire way I felt the bruises already forming on my back.

"So," A voice hissed from nearby. "You think you can evade death forever, do you?"

The voice had a chill to it that made my hairs stand on end. I raised my wand instantly and aimed it in the direction I heard the voice coming from. "I am not afraid of you!" I called to it, standing up despite my body's protests. "Fight me like a man—not a coward!"

"A coward, am I?" The voice asked sinisterly. "You'd be surprised little one."

A split-second later and my body screamed with warning, and silently I cast a Shield Charm around me, which blocked whatever had been coming for me effectively. Relying solely on instinct, I cried, _"Stupefy!"_ and heard a crash in the trees. Not sparing a moment to remove myself from the situation, I shouted, _"Accio bag!" _and clutched it as it soared into my hand, just as I Disapparated. It was one thing to stun Voldemort, but I knew I hadn't knocked him out forever.

All at once, I wasn't suffocating anymore, and feeling every bruise shrieking on my body, I collapsed forward and landed in a pair of male arms. Trembling, I managed to look up through my disheveled hair and saw Harry looking down at me.

"Lizzie, what happened to you?" He asked frantically while brushing the hair away from my face. Quickly he helped me up and I managed to do alright leaning on him for the time being. "Are you alright?" He demanded again, still taking into account the fact I was battered and untidy.

"V-Voldemort," I whispered through a painfully dry mouth. "He attacked me in the woods before I could Apparate here."

Harry cursed loudly, drawing the attention of several customers. "What in the Devil's name would he be doing there? How could he have known?" His eyes blazed with a harboring fury, and the savage look on his face scared me for a brief second before it passed away.

Shaking my head, I murmured, "I don't know."

"I'll fetch a cup of tea—" Hermione began, but she was presently cut off.

"No need Miss," Said Tom, the elderly landlord. He flicked his wand and tea appeared before me. "I'll get ya a private room too. Not safe discussing You-Know-Who in this bar anymore," He admitted ruefully and began leading us toward a rickety staircase. "Don't ya know Death Eaters come here now?" He hissed in a low voice as we began walking up the stairs.

Instantly, Harry, Hermione and Ron's attentiveness appeared and the three of them began glancing discreetly around the pub. At this point, I was too weak to walk stairs, let alone look around a bar _and_ climb.

Harry helped me up and let me lean on him as we walked into the private room Tom had given us. He bowed himself out and shut the door.

Hermione drew out her wand and muttered, _"Muffliato,"_ and sat down in a chair opposite me. "Lizzie you've got to tell us what happened," She said comfortingly and nodded at the tea in my hands. "And drink too."

I offered a weak smirk and tipped the tea into my mouth, gratefully downing the warm, comforting liquid.

"Did he torture you?" Harry grumbled in a solemn voice, but he wasn't facing me. In fact, Harry was standing by the fire crackling in the hearth, his back turned toward me; I didn't take offense to this, however. I understood that he was facing his own inner demons and that I wasn't a part of that struggle.

"No, Voldemort didn't torture me or anything like that," I dissented calmly and watched as the teacup magically refilled itself. "He merely riled me up a bit." I set the full cup down and looked across the table at Hermione.

"But you're pale and shaking," Ron pointed out tightly.

I quickly looked down at my hands, which I had not realized were shaking. Balling them into fists and putting them in my lap, I countered, "Merely seeing Voldemort would leave anyone pale and shaking Ron."

"Did you see him?" Hermione asked in a hushed voice.

Taking a breath, I shook my head. "A voice was all I heard."

"But a Death Eater could have—"

"Only Voldemort can do something like that Hermione; you can just _tell._ There are no words to describe what happens when he sets his sights on you, but you can just feel it crawling up your flesh and settling deep within your bones." I shuddered with the memory.

"Unless you're Fenrir Greyback," Ron grimaced sourly.

I smiled feebly at him. "Unless you are a werewolf set on hunting children, yes."

"So you heard Voldemort and what did he do to you?" Harry asked, ignoring the former statement.

Hesitating for a long time, I finally sighed and shook my head. I was unable to recount my tale, it was just too horrifying to resurface once again.

Instantly, Harry drew me close to him. "Facing Voldemort is no easy task," He agreed grimly. "I should know, I've done it about five times." The last part came out as more of a bitter twinge, but I could still hear the raw hatred behind the words.

"Anything with Voldemort isn't easy, but that's not the point—I didn't even _see_ him. I don't know, maybe it was just because Voldemort is the complete opposite of Dumbledore and—it was terrible! I _hate_ living like something's going to happen. It's a horrible feeling!" Something within me had finally cracked wide open, and I was unleashing everything on Harry, Hermione and Ron. Accidentally pushing Harry aside, I cried out, "Do you know what its like to have to watch your every move, your every footstep has to be concealed—do any of you get that?"

Without hesitation, Hermione was at my side, stroking my hair comfortingly. "It's ok Lizzie, we all know what its like," She soothed quietly. "We're living in a life of real danger and its near to killing us."

Ron also stood up and came to my side, patting my shoulder awkwardly, but I appreciated the gesture nonetheless. What really got me was what he said. "Lizzie, we're all in this together. Every single one of us, Hermione, Harry, me and you, and we're not going to stop until You-Know-Who is through haunting everyone's dreams and doorsteps."

In the shock of what he said, I stopped crying and looked up at him tearfully. "Oh Ron!" I cried and stood up, sending Harry and Hermione flying backwards. I flung my arms around his neck and squeezed him. "Those are magnificent words of courage," I said appraisingly, and stepped back a little when I had realized what I had just done. "You know, when your heart's in the right place, your head follows…even if it is a little slow."

He grinned. "I can't help that."

"Yes, but try," I argued jokingly, and wiped the tears from my eyes. I took my wand off the table and flicked it and butterbeers appeared for everyone. "To hope," I said, raising one.

"To courage," Harry added, raising his own.

"To amazing friends," Hermione added, raising her own bottle.

"To vanquishing You-Know-Who once and for all," Ron finished and we all clinked out bottles and took a sip of the warming liquid.

When I looked around at all of them, somehow I knew deep inside of me that this was where I wanted to be, this was where I always wanted to be.

&

_Reviews make me happy and keep me writing!_


	7. A Scare of Our Lives

_Another revamped update. Things are getting slower on the editing front as my style matches up more now, give me until about chapter fifteen maybe and I won't have to do these "fake updates" any more, and I can finally put this story at complete. Haha, that'll be wonderous. _

_I'm still compiling a soundtrack which I'll attach as chapter 30 and therefore you'll have a little playlist of sorts. _

**Disclaimer:** _Never was, never have been and never will be JK Rowling._

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Chapter Seven: "A Scare of our Lives"

_Sighing __contentedly, I sat at the Leaky Cauldron in the early hours, eating the meager breakfast Tom was able to spare for me. _Ron, Hermione and Harry were all still in bed at this hour, and I didn't want to wake them, so I figured I'd chat up the barman for a little to find out who had been passing through.

Tom sat across from me, his old face a little older and more worn than I remembered it. He took a sip of ale from his mug and set it down. "More Death Eaters been passin' through 'ere e'ry day. Not easy tryin' to hold up to their standards." The tiredness he was feeling seeped into his voice, and I mentally cringed with every word he spoke.

"Standards?" I echoed tentatively, unsure of what he meant.

"They've been thinkin' I'm passin' off information to the Order of the Phoenix," He told me, his tone matter-of-factly, yet still no more than a weak drone. "I kept sayin' I wasn't, but you know them Death Eaters, they didn't want to believe me." He sighed and rubbed a hand over his forehead. "Not easy being the portal between worlds if you will."

"I'm so sorry for troubling you," I apologized earnestly, feeling every bit of sympathy for him. He was right, the Leaky Cauldron was at an extreme vantage point for any side, and unluckily Voldemort got it first. "I didn't realize our presence—"

"Don't trouble yerselves! I'm just surprised that Potter boy ain't being a tad bit more careful 'round these parts." His eyes passed over the stairs, as if expecting Harry to walk down them at any moment.

Behind me, the bar's door opened, letting in the chilly morning air, as well as the typical hustle and bustle of a typical, muggle-London street. I shivered as the chill struck my body, but then I felt an unpleasant trickle of fear slide down my spine that didn't come from the morning air.

Tom's eyes widened and went wild with fear all at once. "Oh no," He muttered and paled as soon as the brisk chill hit his face. "No, don't turn!" He hissed as I began to turn around. "You must go."

"What--?" Was all I managed before he deserted me and a note fluttered down to me and I caught it effortlessly. My eyes scanned it quickly, and I saw a single word: _Run!_ Taking the hint, I quickly pulled out my wand and cleared away the remnants of my meal. With another swish, I ignited the piece of parchment on fire and it burned to ashes in my hand. Glancing behind me, I saw the Death Eaters walking in, smug looks on all of their faces, and shoved my wand into my robe pocket.

My disappearance from the room was quick and sneaky, and even though I caught one Death Eaters eye it was obvious they still didn't know who I was; for the time being, I was safe. Careful not to alert the Death Eaters, I walked up the stairs at a controlled pace and kept my hand firmly on the handrail. As soon as I reached the landing, I began sprinting down the hallway and ran to Harry's room, where I barged in without knocking. Unfortunately, I ended up seriously regretting that decision. "Oh Merlin—Harry I'm sorry!" I cried out in shock as a flush rose up on my cheeks.

He was standing in the center of his room, pulling on jeans over his boxers and his chest was completely bare. Glancing up in shock, he managed to stammer, "L-Lizzie…" before a hot blush rose over his cheeks as well.

My eyes unwilling passed over his muscles slowly, taking in everything: those tanned, toned muscles from years of Quidditch, the expanse of his chest despite the fact he was a skinny boy, he had definitely inherited lean, smooth muscles. _Wait—wait what am I doing?!_ My controlled thoughts broke through my lingering gaze.

Quickly, Harry yanked on his jeans and walked over to me. Unfortunately for me, he had left his shirt on his bed so I could still see those muscles. "What's wrong?" He asked concernedly. As if I could think seriously now—what made it worse was that he grabbed my arms and pulled me closer to him.

"Um…" _Oh Merlin Lizzie, what on earth are you doing?!_ My conscious admonished me, and it was none too gently. Even so, I knew that it was time to step out of this silly little girl fantasy, and bring back all the fierceness that I had. "Right." I shook my head to get myself back on track, and pulled my eyes upward until they were staring at his. "There's a group of Death Eaters downstairs, and we need to leave immediately."

"Damn it," He muttered angrily as his hands sprang apart. "Have you told Ron and Hermione?" He inquired as he swiftly yanked on his shirt and grabbed his rucksack.

"Not yet."

"Well I'll wake Ron, you get Hermione."

I laughed a little, despite the situation we were in and it drew a curious stare from Harry. "Somehow I think Ron would be a little less than angry to have me discover him changing," I explained, hoping to make light of the situation.

However, Harry simply blushed while saying, "Yeah, I think he might." And that made me feel even worse.

After Hermione and Ron had changed, we all met in Harry's room and waited. The tension was marked in our faces, and we didn't do anything besides sit and stare at each other, or the wall. Unfortunately for us, I had no clue how to get out of the Leaky Cauldron without passing the Death Eaters.

Suddenly, a sharp, piercing scream greeted us. Someone—most likely Tom—was being tortured for information. Somehow the Death Eaters knew about us.

I flinched and groaned in pain. "Merlin, please." Suddenly, my prayer for Tom was cut off as soon as I saw Harry stand and start for the door. "Harry, no," I said quickly and managed to slide my body in between his and the doorway. "You stay here."

Eyes burning, he opened his mouth to argue but stopped as soon as my hand passed over his chest. Grimacing, he turned away from me and walked back to the bed he was sitting on. The waiting was killing him, the waiting was killing us all.

"No, no I don't—he wasn't here!" Tom's anguished voice echoed all the way up the hallway. "Please, please I beg you!"

"Give it up old man!" Someone shrieked gleefully. "We know Harry Potter's here!"

"No—no he isn't! P-please don't! I b-beg you!"

"_Crucio!"_ Someone shouted, but the spell was quickly drowned out by Tom's hair raising screams of utter anguish.

Without waiting for another moment, I stood and ran over to Harry. "We have to go." My words were simple, and yet they were strangled at the same time. Grabbing his arm, I pulled him off the bed and into me before I began dragging him toward the door. "We have to get out of here." This time, Ron and Hermione were following me and the four of us were out in the hallway. "Head for that window, as soon as we break ground Disapparate for—"

"I don't think you'll be Disapprating anywhere missy," A sharp, cruel voice interrupted my explanation of our escape. "After all, now that we have you I don't think we should let you go."

All at once, the four of us whirled around and stiffened as soon as we saw there were four Death Eaters making their way up the staircase, murderous looks on their faces. In an instant, my blood chilled and my breath was caught in my throat—this was not the way I planned it.

"Ah yes, a Weasley, the mudblood and the Potter boy. We have most certainly found the jackpot boys." He regarded each of us separately, and before long his gaze landed on me. After studying me for a moment, he said, "Hmm…but I don't know the pretty little thing in the back."

Glaring at him angrily, I sneered, "And no Death Eater will have the pleasure of knowing who I am either." Quickly, I jabbed my wand toward the ceiling and screamed, _"Reducto!"_ at the top of my lungs, causing the ceiling to cave in over him. "RUN!" I yelled over the din of crashing debris. Leaning to my right, I grabbed Harry's wrist and we flew down the hallway.

Running toward the window at the end of the hall, I dropped Harry's wrist so I could easily bring my wand up. At once, I cried, _"Reducto!"_ and once more the spell caused the window to explode, leaving a gaping hole in its midst. Looking back at the other three, I yelled, "JUMP!" as soon as we reached the hole.

All four of us flew into the air and I moved my wand around in a complex manner so I could cast a charm that would cushion our fall that happened in a matter of milliseconds. We landed and then the charm expired, causing us to fall to the ground.

"We need to keep moving," I said quickly, and ignored the stares of muggles around me. We righted ourselves and I grabbed Harry's wrist and looked over at Hermione with a slight nod.

"I can Apparate on my own, thanks," He interrupted tersely and attempted to pull his arm away from my hand.

"Side-Long Apparation is just easier in this circumstance," I retorted in kind. "Ron, hang onto Hermione. Hermione, I told you about this place a long time ago, do you remember?"

"Of course," She affirmed while grasping Ron's hand in her own.

"Harry, I swear to you that if you don't do this you might lose your life forever." My voice was deadly serious, and I could see Harry staring at me through contemptuous eyes. "Just hang on for Merlin's sake!" Desperately, I clung to his wrist and began counting down. "Three…two…one!" And once more we were engulfed by the odd compressing sensation of Apparaition.

As quickly as it had come, the feeling had disappeared but something was very wrong.

Harry stumbled forward, pulling me down with him. "What happened?"

I looked up from my position on the ground and saw Hermione and Ron being dragged to their knees. "No!" The cry ripped from my mouth savagely as I glared at the Death Eaters who were pulling them away from us. _How could they have known?!_

Harry, ever the brave knight, pulled out his own wand again and pointed it at the Death Eaters. "Let them go!"

"Malfoys," The word came out as a snarl and I looked directly into the cold gray eyes of the eldest. My wand was shaking in my grip, and sparks were flying off it in random directions—a sign that I wasn't stable right now.

Holding Hermione, Lucius put a knife to her throat and snickered. "I have no recollection who you are, but perhaps that is because you are of poor blood like this mudblood here," He snarled and pressed the knife against her throat to the point where she winced.

"Of course you don't know who I am you filthy hag," I sneered back and tried to level out my wand. "Assuming that you are Voldemort's right hand men, I would of thought he told you everything…even you're precious little boy here."

"Don't you even _think _about it—I'll kill her!" He cried as I moved my wand.

Flashing a brief sneer at Lucius, I said, "Oh I wouldn't _dream_ about it." But even so, I gave Hermione a significant look and she blinked once to show she understood. I tried signaling to Ron, but he was too caught up in trying to stomp on Draco's foot that he had no idea what was going on. "Like I said, I wouldn't even _dream—DIFFINDO!" _the spell effortlessly rolled of my tongue and a bright jet of light soared out of my wand, successfully cutting the large tree branch behind them in half.

"RON!" Hermione's piercing shriek made my heart leap for a brief instant, but I saw both masses of hair fly out of the way as the branch fell down on top of the Malfoy's with a sickening crunch.

Jumping into my plan, Harry lit the branch on fire before looking at Ron and Hermione. "GO!"

"_Accio Malfoys' wand!"_ I said quickly, and two wands zoomed out of the brush toward us.

Hermione and Ron effortlessly caught them and snapped them in half.

"Bloody hell!" Ron shouted at me as he discarded Draco's wand with a grimace. "You almost killed us!"

"If you had paid attention to me, you would have known what was coming," I snapped at him. "Now GO! We need to move quickly. Within minutes Death Eaters will arrive with the intent to kill." Glancing over at the burning branch, I couldn't help but feel a bit smug at the way the situation turned out. "Serves their bloody lot…" but the words quickly died on my tongue as everything changed.

The air, once so warm with the burning of flesh and wood, had turned stark cold and certain bleakness managed to bury its way into my bones. I felt my lungs constricting, and with a start I realized what horrors were befalling us now.

My gaze slowly drifted upwards, and I saw the sky darken as though the sun had vanished from the earth forever. Feeling my blood seize in my veins, I realized only one dark creature in the magical world could do such things. "_Dementors_." The word was breathless on my tongue, but I knew that nobody else had heard me, and nobody else could feel them coming. Swallowing, I cried out, "Dementors!"

Harry looked back at me, stunned to see me stumble backwards with my wand in hand. "Lizzie—"

"No, no, no!" I screamed as the memories started swirling around, cutting into my skin once again. Screams, my mother and father—everyone falling in front of me, eyes open wide and glazed over with the shock of death. _"NO!"_ I tightened the grip on my wand and looked back up into the sky as a winter's chill descended upon us all, forcing us into the center of the clearing.

Harry pressed his back into mine, and I could feel his warmth seeping through his clothes and for that I was eternally grateful, because it was in that way that I was able to snap into focus once more.

"_EXPECTO PATRONUM!"_ I cried out as I latched onto the happiest memory I had. My silver phoenix swooped out of my wand in one powerful eruption, and began encircling us at once.

"_Expecto Patronum!"_ Harry followed next, and a silver stag erupted out of the end of his wand, and it quickly joined my phoenix.

Ron waved his automatically, shouting _"Expecto Patronum!" _and a Jack Russell terrier exploded out of his wand.

Hermione whipped out her own wand and cried, _"Expecto Patronum!"_ and Harry's stag, my phoenix and Ron's Jack Russell terrier were joined by her shining otter.

The dementors fell onto us then, the rattling sounds of their breathing getting steadily nearer to our heads. I could feel myself shying away in fear, but I had to keep up this—I had to keep this up to protect us all. Hundreds upon hundreds of them swooped down into the clearing and began sucking all of the happiness out of the four of us, circling around us in a ring of death and fear.

"Concentrate!" I cried against the fear and struggled to keep my phoenix going strong. Slowly I could feel the edges of fear seeping into our circle, and the first down was Ron. I could not only see his terrier fading, but I could feel the happiness draining out of him. "RON!" I shouted as loudly as I could, but at that moment I was attacked by at least ten dementors and my phoenix was quick to my aid, beating them all back successfully.

"Come on Ronald!" Hermione cried out as she took my place of comforting and pushing Ron to keep up his Patronus charm. "You have to focus—please!" There were tears in her voice, but her Patronus remained shining and strong alongside Harry's and mine.

"RON!!" Harry bellowed as he kept a firm hold on his stag. "Come on mate! Stay with me!"

"COME ON!!" I yelled furiously as the dementors sunk even lower, quickly sapping us of whatever energy we had left. "You're not getting a bloody thing!" I screamed at the creatures, who dared to come near to me. Fury was pushing me now, and through that fury I was able to encourage the others.

Our Patronuses circled us protectively, beating back a group of dementors when they dared to come too close. Having had enough of this game the dementors tried to play, my own phoenix decided to soar straight for the heart of them all, and the rest of the Patronuses followed her in their own act of bravery.

Watching it from the ground, it looked like a miracle—a spear of light soared straight into the dark cloud, and began to break it apart bit by bit until it disappeared all together.

The air was no longer bitter and filled with the stench of death, and the sky had brightened up as though it were the first sun after a long winter. Suddenly, there was a considerable lightness to the air that hadn't been there before, and we were all able to breathe again.

However, I still collapsed beside everybody else as my blood flowed through me again, and my breathing was no longer constricted. Looking to my left, and feeling happier than ever before, I was about to smile at Harry when I saw Ron's curled up form beside him. "Oh Merlin," I muttered as the smile fell from my face and distress replaced it. "Chocolate—Hermione I need chocolate!" I cried out and lunged over Harry to get to Ron.

Hermione looked over her shoulder and saw me leaning over Harry as I moved Ron's hands away from his face. "Ron!" She screamed as soon as she saw what had happened to him.

His face was deathly pale, and his eyes were wide with fear and shock. He would have looked dead, if not for the steady breath coming from his open mouth. The dementors hadn't—they couldn't have performed the Kiss on him.

"Chocolate!" I demanded angrily and quickly looked over him once more. He still had a soul, he wasn't an empty shell yet, that much I was certain of. I would have seen the light coming out of him, and yet I knew it was inside him still. "Hermione!" My voice grew increasingly edgy every time Hermione didn't provide for me, and when I looked up at her I saw her frantically rifling through her bag.

"I don't—I don't have any!" She cried in surprise and looked back up at me, panic written all over her face. "Oh Merlin, what are we—"

Without hesitation, I lifted my wand once more and pointed it at him, casting a silent Cheering Charm and hoping desperately it would help. "Come on Ron, come on—don't do this to me. Stay with me Ron!" I cried as I cast another.

Suddenly, he gasped and sat straight up, looking widely at all of us. "What in the bloody hell just happened?!" He croaked out and looked at me.

"Cheering Charm," I answered his unspoken question. "Dementors almost killed us all." I stuffed my wand away and slowly became conscious of Harry's lap underneath me.

Hermione moved closer to Ron and touched his hand gently, comforting him and smiling reassuringly. "Are you ok?" She asked softly.

"Fine," He said tiredly and sat back with a look of hatred on his face.

"I think," Hermione began slowly and looked around at us all. "We've all just had a scare of our lives."

"Hm," I nodded in assent and quickly pulled myself off of Harry, who was now staring at me with intent interest.

"The only problem is," Harry said quietly as he stood and extended a hand to me. "That wasn't even the beginning of it."

I looked up at Harry and our eyes met as I slid my hand into his, and for the first time I truly felt connected to the boy and realized exactly what he was going through. And though we came from two very different backgrounds, we were going through exactly the same thing and the root cause of it all was Voldemort.

&

_Review! Its always wonderful when you do :)_


	8. We're In This Together

_Nothing more than another revamped chapter. I really like going back and doing this, it just makes the entire experience of writing so much more idealistic for me. Quite nice really, since I'd love to write and publish a book someday. All this fanfiction is just practice I suppose ;)_

_So read on fanfictioners, read on. -_

**Disclaimer:**_ Never will own any of this except for Lizzie._

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Chapter Eight: "We're In This Together"

_An __hour later, when no Death Eaters had appeared, we decided it was safe to Apparate away from this place. _We all looked at each other, standing in a circle and with weary looks on our faces.

"Well, it gets worse before it gets better." I said, half smiling.

Despite the situation, Hermione laughed. "Yeah it does." She held out her hand, palm down.

I put mine on top of hers and Ron and Harry did the same.

"We're in this together," Hermione murmured tearfully as she sobered up.

"Forever," I added, as my own throat seemed to close up.

"Until You-Know-Who is finished," Ron promised.

"Once and for all," Harry finished courageously.

"Now to Disapparate," I said swiftly, brushing away the fact that I had almost burst into tears moments earlier. After all, I was Albus Dumbledore's granddaughter, I did not cry.

&

I landed roughly on the ground and heard three other distinct thumps around me. Instantly we all jumped up and had our wands lit. Back to back we came together in the middle of the clearing, straining to hold our wands up a little higher to get the maximum coverage of light.

"Oh this is silly," Hermione's voice cut through the gloom agitatedly. _"Lumos Maximus."_ And at once, a brighter flash of light appeared on the end of her wand.

"_Lumos Maximus," _We repeated, following Hermione's example, and then what had previously been a darker clearing was now illuminated with our created light.

"Do you see anyone?" Ron asked as his head darted around. "'Cause I don't."

"No, I don't either," Hermione replied after she had looked around the clearing.

"I don't either," Harry said with a note of finality.

"Nope—keep your wand raised though," I said quickly as the rest started lowering them. "I have no idea where we are."

"America I think." Hermione answered matter-of-factly.

"What?" I asked incredulously, whirling around to stare at her with an open mouth. "B-but Voldemort's in England!"

"We need time to think—to plan," She explained with a shake of her head. "There's no way we can think rationally if we're being tracked all the time by Death Eaters. That's why our plans have led us astray so far."

"Hermione _that_ is where all the danger is!" I cried indignantly.

"Exactly Lizzie—don't you see? Without all that danger we won't have to be disrupted from planning."

Sighing angrily, I said, "Fine, but as soon as we figure out what we're going to do we're going back."

"Of course," She answered as she began to pull out the tent from her bag. "I want Voldemort finished as much as you do."

Feeling anger swirl around in me at the mention of finishing Voldemort, I muttered, "You have no idea how much I want him finished."

A long minute of tense silence engulfed us all. The other three stiffened slightly as they watched me through wary eyes before finally turning away to resume unpacking.

I frowned at the sky and began casting protective enchantments around the place without missing a beat. Under my breath, I muttered, "How did we even get here?"

"I've been to America once," Hermione answered, flicking her wand and the tent erected itself magically. "A long time ago my parents wanted me to experience some international culture."

I didn't even think she heard me. "Ah," I replied with a slight nod as I finished casting the last enchantment. Hermione made to begin her own, but I shook my head. "It's all settled. I cast yours as well."

"Oh," She said as a small frown of disappointment creased her brow.

"Don't worry Hermione," Ron called over to her. "You're still the brightest witch I know."

I couldn't help but laugh at Ron. It was so obvious he was trying to win over Hermione. Harry caught my eye and we smirked at each other, both of us knowing exactly what Ron was doing. After of enjoying the brief moment of humor, I went back to business and said, "So, the plan, what is it?"

After a few moments of contemplative silence, Hermione spoke up. "Well, we need to get to the Horcruxes obviously," She told us, her tone frank. "And I think it's better if we discussed this inside the tent."

"Yeah," I agreed, glancing surreptitiously behind me. Though we were in a country miles away from London, I still felt we were being watched by Voldemort's henchmen. "We don't know how far Voldemort's reign has spread."

Harry waved his wand and murmured, _"Muffliato,"_ and walked inside the tent. Hermione, Ron and I quickly followed.

As we sat down at the table, my eyes met Harry's in a secret, knowledge filled glance that showed me Harry and I were on the same level, even more so than Ron and Hermione. We knew exactly what was going on, but we didn't want to admit it. After a moment, I mumbled, "Horcruxes," aloud to see the reaction.

"Horcruxes," They echoed dully.

"You all realize what you're getting yourselves into, right? Defeating Voldemort isn't going to be an easy task—no it's going to be near impossible." I looked evenly at them, weighing everyone's reaction.

Harry met me with his own level stare. "I have to. I have no other choice," He said solemnly, and he sounded far older than he actually was. "Voldemort must die by my own hand, otherwise the world as we know it is thrown into chaos."

So he did realize that part at least. I was grateful for that because I didn't want to have to be the one to say that he was the one who needed to kill Voldemort, or else. "You're braver than I gave you credit for." _And more knowledgeable,_ I thought to myself wryly.

"I have to be." His eyes glimmered slightly with an emotion I couldn't understand.

I let out a hollow laugh. "You have no idea how terrifying this actually is, do you?" I looked around at all three of them. "You have no idea what Voldemort could do to you given the chance."

Ron glanced at Hermione and then back at me with a slightly raised eyebrow. He didn't entirely believe me. "And what makes you say you know?"

"There are things about me that no one knows Ron. If Voldemort knew who I was he wouldn't hesitate to kill me, but even that would be a miracle. If Voldemort knew who I was, he would probably torture me first," I explained, giving them enough information as well as evading the finer points of my history.

"Why would Voldemort care?"

I gave him a crooked smile. "You have no idea why he would care, and I'm not about to divulge the information."

"Are you some Death Eater turned good or something?"

"N-o-o, not even close," My eyes flickered to Harry for a brief second before I looked back at Ron. "Just trust me, all right? We're in this together, remember?"

"I for one, happen to have all the trust in the world for her. And you know trust doesn't come easily to me Ron," Harry interrupted quickly as soon as he saw Ron was about to argue once more.

Again, I let my eyes pass over onto him and this time they lingered on his, and I silently thanked him.

He acknowledged my thankful expression with a brief nod before continuing, "But we shouldn't be worrying about this—we have to crack down on these Horcruxes."

"So…you told me you destroyed the locket." I put my hands on the table. "Unfortunately we have…"

"Three," Harry answered automatically. "Something of Hufflepuff's, Ravenclaw's and the snake."

"The snake will be easy enough, just find Voldemort you find Nagini," I said with a dismissive shrug.

"That's not all easy," Hermione argued with a raised eyebrow.

"Easy to _find_," I amended. "Not so easy to kill."

Ron stood up and began pacing. "And how about the rest of them?"

I suppressed a wry grin. "Oh I know where Helga Hufflepuff's cup is." The three looked at me with astonishment etched all over their faces. Enjoying the moment of superior knowledge—I was only eighteen after all—I let them sit in surprised silence for a moment before continuing. "I've known for awhile actually, and meant to go after it myself, but then…well Dumbledore died and I was held up for obvious reasons."

"How?" Hermione asked when she finally regained her voice. "How could you have found out?"

"All it takes is a little researching into the Death Eaters." This time I felt the grin slip onto my lips. "Let's just say Bellatrix Lestrange is right when she says she's close to Voldemort, but not how she believes."

"She has the cup?" Harry asked. "How can she have it?"

"There's a little placed called Gringotts in Diagon Alley…" And we launched into figuring out how we were going to get that cup.

_&_

_Reviews please?_


	9. Something that can not Happen

_Alright gang, this is another revamped chapter. I figured I'd keep plugging out what I have for you since school's about to start and my time will be severely limited due to the excessive amounts of homework I'm sure I will receive. sigh Anyways, I do hope you enjoy this chapter and I'll let you know that I've got up to Chapter 13 re-edited and everything._

_So read on (and review)! :)_

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Chapter Nine: Something that Can Not Happen

_No __matter how much we discussed everything, we couldn't think of a logical way to get into Gringott's without killing ourselves. _Ron had suggested asking Bill, his brother, but Harry immediately forwent that idea saying Dumbledore didn't want them to tell anyone else about the Horcruxes. Hermione had suggested that they try to disguise themselves as Death Eaters, but that didn't work out too well either because none of them had a drop of the Polyjuice Potion on hand. After listening to them try to come up with ideas for four hours, I finally was too frustrated to take anymore in. "We'll resume tomorrow," I said shortly, cutting Hermione off rather rudely. I gave her an apologetic look and continued on, "We're too tired to think up anything, and at this rate it will take us days. A good night's rest will help." I glanced over at Harry, then back at the rest of the group. "I'll take first watch." I stood, pulled out my wand and left the tent in a flurry.

Later on I paced restlessly on the outside of the tent. I couldn't sit still; apprehension and stillness clung to my body as if it were a disease. Suddenly I felt hands on the small of my back and they wrapped around my stomach. I wriggled free from the intruding grasp and whipped around; aiming my wand directly into the face of the perpetrator, it's light from my silent spell revealing Harry.

"Watch where you point that thing!" He exclaimed, raising his arm in mock surrender.

"You know better than to do that in the middle of the night," I said snappishly. "Don't you realize I could have taken you out with a single hex?" I sighed exasperatedly. "You should be inside, get some rest."

"You sound like Hermione," He murmured with a wry smile.

"She's starting to grow on me," I shrugged nonchalantly and turned away from him. "Actually, you are all are starting to grow on me."

"Really?" He sounded slightly shocked, but kept most of it out of his voice.

"Yeah," I replied and whirled around to meet his impish stare with a cold one. "What was that incident for anyways? You scared me half to death."

Harry blushed crimson, which had an uncharacteristic look upon his face. Nervously, it seemed, he lifted a hand to the back of his neck and rubbed it. I didn't miss how he seemed to avoid my question.

"You're too much like Ron for your own good," I told him with a raised eyebrow. I had seen Ron do the very same things when he made a fool of himself in front of Hermione. It was typically cute to watch, but now that Harry was acting that way around me made me slightly self-conscious, but mostly I was afraid of what could happen if I…gave in to such feelings.

Harry grinned, but the look vanished a moment later and he met my eyes with a strange intensity that sent me stepping backwards.

"That is completely your own look though," I pointed out as he closed the distance between us. I cursed myself for the unnatural wavering of my voice. Why was something like this making me so flustered? "Harry what are you doing?" I stiffened when he stood not but scant inches from me.

"There's something here," He said slowly, indicating his heart. "I don't know how to explain it, but I feel as though we've met before…besides that time at Dumbledore's funeral. I feel like I _know_ you through and through," He hesitated slightly, but continued on as a blush crept up on his cheeks again. "I find myself falling into your mystery Lizzie."

A wild range of emotions ran through me like fire. I felt shocked, dizzy, afraid, guilty and most of all a strange stirring my heart that had not occurred since my grandfather died. I could feel my face soften under his intense stare, and I quietly murmured, "Oh Harry."

"You're an awful lot like Dumbledore," He told me honestly, smiling in remembrance of his old headmaster. "I even noticed it the first time I met you…and the way you said goodbye…well it just drew my attention. You knew him more personally than you let on."

I bit my lip nervously, and at once I froze up again. "Harry, I really can't talk about this," I turned on my heel and began to march away from him, but he caught my arm and forced me around. "Harry, please don't do this."

"What am I doing wrong? Why can't you tell me?" He demanded furiously.

"Because it would jeopardize everything we're fighting for!" I exclaimed angrily. "You don't get it do you? Your life has its dependency on someone else's!" I wrenched my arm away from his and glared up at him. "There are things I'm not allowed to talk about because you are who you are, and I am who I am. It is impossible for me to bring Dumbledore up in these situations—I must keep my life a mystery, don't you see?"

A shell-shocked expression spread over Harry's face, replacing the agitated one he wore earlier. His mouth opened and closed several times before he finally managed to choke out, "_What_ did you just say?"

_Why did you just say that?! _I berated myself angrily, and shifted my focus so I wouldn't be looking at Harry directly. Summoning all the courage I had, I was able to mutter, "Your life is dependant upon someone else's."

"I'm not letting any more people die for me Lizzie, what about that don't _you _get?" His eyes blazed furiously with all the determination he felt, and I knew it would be difficult when the time came for that person to lose their life for him. I knew it would kill him inside when that happened.

I shot him a brief look, and then continued looking away as I murmured, "People die for you because they _care_ Harry. They love you—we all love you."

I could practically feel the venom in his voice as he spat, "Then they should have stuck around longer. I'm so _sick_ of people dying for me. I've lost everyone I know to Voldemort!"

"Harry you can't run at Voldemort with a hot head—"

"As soon as those Horcruxes are gone, Voldemort has no idea what's in store for him."

I looked at him with all the sympathy and pain I felt for him. "Harry," I reached out and touched his arm, to my immense relief he did not pull away. "I'm with you," I whispered. "I'm with you, even when you face Voldemort. I'm going further than Ron and Hermione, I am with you until the end—and I mean _until the very end._"

He glanced at me, shocked, but he held my stare. "What do you mean? I have to face Voldemort alone; if you face him he'll kill you."

"That's his aim with you too," I pointed out, shrugging slightly.

"How can you be with me all the way?" He cocked his head and confusion spread across his face. He was having trouble understanding what I was saying, and at the moment I didn't want him to comprehend why and how I was going to be able to go in so deep with him.

I smiled slightly, still hiding my secret. "It's just something I have to do."

"I don't understand—"

"Of course you don't." I said simply, shrugging yet again. "I haven't told you everything and because you are not a skilled Occlumens, I can not."

"Snape never bothered to teach me right," He spat and the blame of his inability to master Occlumency shifted to the all-hated murderer.

"Hermione's right though, you never really attempted much either," I countered gently.

"Don't push _that_ on me. Hermione's already told me more than enough times."

"I'm sorry."

"Are you reading my mind right now?"

I laughed. "No, I've trained myself not to—even though it is with great temptation."

"Why would that be?"

"To see in the world of Harry Potter, 'The Boy Who Lived'—that would be amazing." I breathed. Suddenly I realized how very wrong that came out and blushed fiercely. "I'm sorry, that wasn't what I meant."

He grinned. "It's not that fascinating, unless you want to know what I'm thinking right now—at this very moment."

I met his eyes and the flush continued to burn my cheeks. "What-what do you mean?" I asked, suddenly breathless as his emerald eyes pierced through mine.

"Harry?" Someone said distantly, I wasn't too aware of who it was until Ron suddenly came around the corner and halted. He fumed for a moment, then quickly ducked his head while murmuring, "Oh—right—sorry mate," and disappearing back around the corner.

Harry wanted to stay, but I shoved him in Ron's direction. "Go," I ordered. "Go now."

"Occlu—"

"We're taking it too far Harry," I interrupted quickly. "Just go."

"I still want to know how you knew Dumbledore—"

"Very well, but not yet—you don't get it that if I tell you, you will jeopardize everything and everyone you love…you will jeopardize yourself."

"Why must I be kept in the dark then?"

"Just trust me!"

"Tell me why this…just tell me why this—us—can't happen Lizzie, please," He pleaded, eyes shining brightly.

"Once I tell you, you will understand everything. Harry, just go!" I begged him. He began walking towards me and I backed away so quickly I tripped and fell. He leaned forward to pick me up, but I cringed away from him. "Harry please," I whispered.

Seeing the way I flinched as he came near, he immediately stepped back and stuffed his hands in his pockets and darted around the corner in the direction Ron had left, leaving me on the ground and alone.

I didn't even bother to stand as he retreated; all I did was break down into quiet sobs and murmured, "I'm sorry Harry…I'm so sorry for everything."

&

**Review!**


	10. Filthy Traitor

_School starts tomorrow! D: So, to make up for the lack of coming (edited) chapters, I'm going to post two at once. I hope you guys'll be able to forgive the fact that I'm going to be held up with school. Anyways, this is just another revamped chapter and I'm thinking between Chapters 15 and 16 is when my style's back on track so this'll be completed pretty soon. I still have to work on a soundtrack, and its kinda hard when the story's already written. Ahah. _

_Read on fanfictioners, read on! (Don't forget to review!)_

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Chapter Ten: Filthy Traitor

_The __next morning, all of us sat around the breakfast table in an awkward silence._ Things were exceptionally tense, and I could even feel waves of frigidness coming off of Ron as he shot icy glares at both Harry and I. Even Hermione, who had not seen Harry and I last night, realized that something was going on, and by the look in her intelligent brown eyes I could tell she was going to try and do something about it. I tried to signal her to stop, but before I could she blurted out—

"_Honestly_!"

Ron whirled around in his chair and faced her directly with a befuddled expression plastered on his freckly face. "Hermione?"

"_What_ in Merlin's name happened last night?" She glared at Ron for a brief second before turning her gaze on Harry and I, waiting for an answer. "Why are you guys all acting so…so _awkward_?"

Pressing my lips together tightly, I dropped my eyes and studied the wooden grain on the table. I was not going to save anyone's face on this—least of all mine. I knew what I did was wrong, but I wasn't going to say anything about it.

Realizing what she meant, Ron regained his huffy, icy manner again and stared at the top of my head, boring holes into my skull as he said, "What I saw last night pissed me off."

"Well," She cried out sarcastically. "I couldn't figure that one out _at all_ Ronald! It was so difficult for me to pick up on your emotions—since you have an emotional range of a teaspoon and everything!"

"Don't you dare get mad at me Hermione," He warned in a deadly voice. "If there's anyone you should be mad at its _Lizzie_," My name rolled off his tongue with a trace of disgust and contempt.

My face reddened with the boiling anger that I felt inside, yet I refused to defend myself because ethics were getting in the way.

"Ron, please don't do this," Harry interrupted quietly. "We're in this together—"

"_You_ should not be talking you filthy little traitor," Ron interrupted irately, fuming at Harry, but I could still feel his eyes boring holes into my head.

"_Traitor_?" Hermione cried in shock. "What in Merlin's name are you talking about Ronald?"

"I think Harry—and _Lizzie_--should be the ones to tell you that," He said shortly, anger clipping his every word.

For the first time in the entire discussion, I looked up and my eyes fixed on Ron's. Anger burning through me, I leaned across the table so that my face was scant inches from his own freckly, pale one and I said in a dark tone, "Do you want to repeat what you've been saying Ronald?"

Hermione, suddenly understanding what was going on—bless her, I thought it would take her even longer with Ron's beating-around-the-bush method—jumped at the skirmish that was about to build up and said, "I think what Harry and Lizzie do really isn't any of your business Ron," But her voice was so quiet I thought I misheard her, but she plowed on even more quietly when Ron threw a furious glare her way. "Harry really isn't a traitor anymore—he isn't dating your sister anymore."

"And furthermore," I added in a strained voice. "Nothing _is_ going on between Harry and I in the first place so you really shouldn't be getting all fired up like this," Continuing on in an even more riled voice than before, I said, "You shouldn't go jumping to conclusions as you are when you don't know a _single thing_ about me."

Ron seemed to have reached the edge of his emotional range as he suddenly drew his wand and pointed it at my nose. With the flaming red hair it honestly looked like his head was on fire—and that steam was pouring from his too-big ears.

The entire incident seemed to have startled everyone because Harry physically stood up while Hermione leapt back in her seat. Harry fixed Ron with the most incensed look I had ever seen him give his best friend, while Hermione clapped a hand over her gaping mouth as her eyes darted back and forth between the two of us.

"You're right Lizzie; nobody _does_ understand you because you refuse to tell us anything."

Realizing exactly what he was pointing at, I leaned slightly back away from the wand, but my gaze met his burning one. "I thought we already discussed this Ronald," I said in a calm voice. "And I told you to never bring it up again."

He laughed uncharacteristically cruelly while he said, "But it still seems a bit odd that a strange girl just shows up out of nowhere—don't you agree?" He twirled his wand between his fingers while never breaking his gaze that tried to drill holes into my brain.

But even as he tried, I remained unshakably calm and held his gaze almost too easily. "Ronald Weasley, I told you not to bring it up again and yet here you are doing what I requested you not to. We already discussed that I am not a Death Eater, nor have I ever been one. What about that don't you get?"

"Maybe I still don't understand why a girl like you would just show up out of the middle of nowhere. How do we know to trust you?" He stopped his wand just inches from my face and because of his anger, red sparks shot out of it, narrowly missing my nose.

"Ronald, just put your wand away before you kill someone."

"Well then that would be excellent if I got rid of a Death Eater, wouldn't it?"

My eyes narrowed angrily. "I'm not a Death Eater and I'll not have you accusing me of being one. You have no idea what you are talking about and you're making yourself look incredibly stupid, alright? So just drop the act and put the wand away and maybe we can get on with an actual breakfast."

Ron flinched like I had just slapped him, but he still held his wand out and it was still pointed at my face.

I took a deep breath to try and calm myself, but it didn't work. "You know what?" I said, standing up so quickly the chair I was sitting on toppled behind me. "If you want to find Helga Hufflepuff's cup and the rest of the Horcruxes on your own, go right ahead. If you want me to leave, I'll leave," I fixed him with another baleful glare, and then sympathetically cocked my head in Hermione's direction before spinning around and storming out of the tent.

"Lizzie," Harry called from behind me as he grabbed my arm. "I don't want you to leave," He spun me around and made me face him and his dazzling green eyes.

I felt my defenses weaken only slightly by the imploring look in his eyes, but immediately shrugged away from him and fixed him with a sympathetic, yet firm stare as I said, "I'm obviously causing Ronald to have nervous breakdowns, so I don't want to keep doing that to him."

"Lizzie!" Another person cried, and I could tell it was Hermione. "Lizzie, please don't go," She begged when she caught up to Harry and I. "Ron's just being a huge prat."

"Exactly—Ron's just being a prat Lizzie. He'll get over it."

"Prat or not, he obviously doesn't want me here," I said as I turned around. "So be it," I called over my shoulder and began walking determinedly away from the tent and away from Hermione and Harry…and Ron. I reached the woods past our enchantments before I glanced back to assure myself this was what I really wanted to do, but unfortunately I was assaulted with, _Why are you doing this stupid?! _

Hermione had folded her arms over her chest and was biting her lip worriedly as she stared at me with wide and sad brown eyes. Her lower lip quivered dangerously when she glanced over at Harry. He had his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his jeans, but he was looking at the ground as he kicked at it solemly.

My mind and my heart were conflicting as I gave them a last smile and prepared to Diapparate. _What about Harry you idiot? You can't just leave these guys up to Voldemort—he'll kill them!_ I closed my eyes and began to concentrate on a spot when—

"I-I don't!" Ron's voice burst through the solemn silence.

My eyes snapped open and I saw Ron trip out of the tent and stare at me with begging eyes. In an instant all of my reasons for leaving dropped away and I stiffened acutely as I watched him stumble toward me.

"Lizzie please don't go."

Trying to regain some of my cool composure from earlier, I responded, "I don't forgive so easily," in a frigid tone.

"I don't want Harry dead. I don't care what you and him do—"

Right there he had just crossed a boundary. "How many times do I have to tell you? _Nothing_ is going on between Harry and me," I interrupted impatiently as I rolled my eyes.

"Just let me finish. Harry and Ginny are over, and as much as Ginny might still love Harry, I can see why he broke up with her. I guess I sort of hoped that Harry and I would actually be brothers one day…" He sighed and plowed on. "Anyways, Harry has the right to do what he wants and it's none of my business."

For the first time in a long time I laughed, but it wasn't exactly at Ron…it was more or less at what he had just told me. I figured out the root cause of his problem with me, so I said, "Ron, don't you get it? Nothing will ever happen between you and Harry. You'll always be best mates and no one can come in between that—not even me."

He blinked rapidly for a moment as I had just laid out his entire problem in a simple sentence or two. "Oh—" He rubbed the back of his neck as it reddened beneath his flaming hair. "You're right I guess."

I studied him for a brief moment before smiling again and saying, "You know what Ron? You have this uncanny ability to make other people feel extremely comfortable around you—the exception being of course when you're pointing your wand at them."

Being Ron, he flushed even more so as I complimented him. "Th-thanks I guess."

"Just thought you ought to know that," I said with a shrug. "And you're really not _that_ big of a prat."

He dropped his eyes and mumbled, "Thanks."

"Of course, but you really should know this too," I glanced back at Hermione, who was watching, but not hearing us. "I think you should tell Hermione how you feel about her."

If complimenting him had caused him to blush, this caused him to fall over backwards and stare up at me from the ground. His face was incredibly red as he spluttered, "Wh-what?"

I exhaled and glanced up into the sky, shielding my eyes from the sunlight. "It's obvious really; I'm surprised she hasn't said anything to you yet," I looked back down at him and said, "Well, I really think you should say something."

"Umm…"

"Honestly Ron, you should definitely say something to her," I placed a hand on my hip and glanced back at the tent. "But I'm going back to the tent to finish breakfast," I stepped forward, but stopped and extended my hand to him. "Are we good now?"

He took it and stood up. "Y-yeah, I suppose we are."

Almost as if nothing was going wrong, I clapped him on the shoulder and said, "Breath Ron, just breathe; it'll be alright," Laughing to myself, I turned around and started walking back to the tent where I saw Hermione's and Harry's faces light up.

"So Ron's not being a prat anymore?" Harry asked scathingly when I walked up to the both of them.

Glancing back at him, I shook my head and said, "No Harry and you should have realized the only reason he was acting like that is because he was worried about being friends with you still," I looked back at Harry and warned him, "Leave him alone right now—I gave him an earful."

"You two looked awfully jovial over there," He brooded as his eyebrows contracted slightly. Suddenly I saw that Harry was oddly jealous because Ron and I had been laughing.

"And that matters to you because?" I replied and fixed him with a quizzical look. _Why on earth would Harry be _jealous_?_

"No reason," He answered quickly and glanced back over at Ron. "He looks as though he's going to keel over at any rate."

Suppressing a slight giggle, I glimpsed back at Ron and then turned my attention on Harry again. "And I thought Gryffindors were supposed to be brave?" I shrugged unsympathetically and walked over to Hermione as she had begun laughing. Looping an arm through hers, we trotted back to the tent. "I think you should tend to Ron, Harry!" I called over my shoulder before we disappeared inside to resume breakfast.

&

**Review!**


	11. Gold and Goblins

_Just like I promised :) _

_Have fun!_

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Chapter Eleven: Gold and Goblins

_Some __time after the incidents of the morning all four of us had ended up gathered around the worn kitchen table; emotions were running on a high tenor this morning and it was clearly apparent with the way we stood._ Not one person around the table had a relaxed posture and none of us were able to stand still. We had just been talking about how to break into Gringotts and get Helga Hufflepuff's cup without creating too much of a distraction—and that alone would have coiled up anybody. It didn't help that we did actually have to worry about Death Eaters on top of that.

I glanced around nervously at them all, gauging their reactions to the plan I had just laid out in front of them. For the most part they were all nervous or angry (angry being Ron of course). "So do we have a general idea of what the plan is?" I asked quietly.

A silence filled with so much tension you could cut it with a knife descended on the four of us; nobody wanted to speak their opinion and I certainly didn't want to say anything else at the moment.

Finally, after what seemed like an hour, Hermione opened her mouth and began slowly, carefully almost, "I don't like it," She kept her eyes fixed on the table, not wanting to meet my eyes. A second later she sank into her chair and fiddled with something in her lap. "It's too dangerous."

Knowing this would be the dominant reaction, I stayed standing as the other two sank into their chairs as well. They were scared and worried that they would slip up and thus would bring death upon us all. Shoving the thoughts of meeting Voldemort face-to-face out of my brain, I looked at them all, even though they refused to meet my probing eyes. "We have no other choice," I told them, seriousness weighing down my voice. "Unless the three of you can come up with something else, this is what we have."

Hermione, nervous about arguing with me, opened and closed her mouth several times before finally pressing her lips together and shaking her head; I swore I saw two tears leak from her eyes and fall into her lap before she quickly wiped a hand across her face.

Harry, as tense and worried about this as he was, looked up finally and met my blue eyes with his emerald ones; he nodded silently, but I read his gaze which told me everything I needed to know: _I'm always in on whatever it is—if it's a step closer to killing Voldemort count me in._

Had this been a different time I would have smiled at Harry's sense of bravery, compassion and one-track mind, but for now I simply nodded my head very slightly, but he caught the gesture nonetheless.

Ron, however, had different motives in his head. "I disagree with the matter completely Lizzie," He told me frankly, and looked up, but did not meet my eyes. "We're going straight into a deathtrap that we'll never be able to get out of if we get caught. What if You-Know-Who shows up? Then we've brought Harry directly to his death without even giving him a chance—you're sending us all into enemy territory."

Though I would have gladly loved to argue and interrupt him, I kept my mouth clamped shut and my eyes facing forward, measuring Ron's reactions and movements as he dictated what he felt. I had to admit that he was slightly correct—if Voldemort did show up I did just bring all of us to our deaths, but what they didn't know was that Harry had the ability to fall back on me in that department. In any case I waited until Ron had shut his mouth and looked at me with eyes that glimmered with faint nervousness. "I can't deny that those are all very real possibilities Ron," I started calmly, keeping my voice as measured as I could. "But you always risk your own life when you're trying to kill another."

Ron pressed his lips together as he completely resisted the urge to argue. A slight red flush crept across his face, but he continued to say nothing.

"Are you in or what?" Hermione asked after glancing up at him. "We need to make a decision Ron."

I could have hugged her—she was so good and forcing Ron to do things while I had the opposite effect. I watched Ron think for a millisecond and he finally nodded, and for once it wasn't a weak nod just to go along with everyone else—this was a true agreement, Ron really wanted to do this. Feeling overjoyed and, in spite of the situation, a small smile worked its way into a corner of my mouth as I said, "If there's anyone who has a chance to break into Gringotts it would be us."

And then comprehension seemed to dawn on Harry as he suddenly blinked and looked at me in a panic-stricken way. "What about the goblins?" He demanded quickly.

Had I not been Albus Dumbledore's granddaughter I would have been completely derailed and thrown into despair by this question; I would have suddenly remembered that I had _not_ considered the goblins in my calculations and the entire plan would have been a failure when we hadn't even started it yet. But, I was not some other girl: I was Albus Dumbledore's true flesh and blood and I had already deliberated with myself over the goblins. "The goblins have been taken care of. I've roped one into our cause, but only one; the others will remain as is."

Harry, still not relieved by my apparent calmness with the situation, sat up straighter in his chair and pierced me through and through with his emerald eyes. "Who is it? Can they be trusted?"

Remembering an old piece of advice from my grandfather, I shook my head, but the wry smile stayed in place. "No goblin can be trusted Harry, they are motivated by greed and it is that which sustains them. The only reason this goblin has agreed to join us on our quest is because we hold something very valuable which _any_ goblin would kill to have." The light in my face dimmed a little as I cast my eyes on a gleaming, silvery object which protruded from someone's bag.

He turned in his chairs and his eyes found the sword of Godric Gryffindor and I could practically feel the anger and spitefulness rolling off him in waves. He turned back toward me and his eyes said everything: _There is no way in hell we are giving that sword to a filthy goblin._

"Harry," I said quickly, heading him off. "We have no choice but to do just that. Technically the sword of Godric Gryffindor does belong to him and all the other goblins—they made it in the first place. He wants it back, so we've to got give it back to him."

"But it's already a necessity to us—we destroyed bloody Salazar Slytherin's locket with it. Don't you think we could use it?" He demanded furiously.

"To be frank, no I don't. There is no doubt in my mind that Gryffindor's sword is a powerful magical object, but do you remember that Gryffindor and Slytherin were enemies? It would only make sense that their relics would be the very things to destroy each other. Hufflepuff had no quarrel with Gryffindor; therefore his object would just be scarring a wonderful memory. We're going to need something else to destroy Hufflepuff's cup."

Though I was talking to Harry, Hermione was the first to speak. "In legends there have been stories of Helga Hufflepuff having a secret romance with Godric Gryffindor," She said tonelessly. "Lizzie's right you know—if they really were secret lovers it wouldn't make sense to destroy Hufflepuff's relic with Gryffindor's."

I looked over at Hermione and smiled a little bit. "Yes, those were the legends," I glanced back over at Harry who was finally looking at me with a faint glimmer in his eye. "Besides, I didn't exactly tell Griphook precisely _when_ I would give him the sword—I just said that in exchange for his services we would give him the sword and, naturally, he agreed."

Ron let out a low whistle and shook his head. "You tricked a goblin? Are you bloody insane?" He raised his eyebrows until they disappeared into his fringe of flaming-red hair when he saw me smirk.

"I didn't _trick_ him Ron," I said in a mock-offended tone. "I would never do that! I just…was a little _vague_ on the exact timing of the exchange. Besides Griphook is the best shot we've got on getting into and out of Gringotts alive."

"Griphook?" Harry intoned curiously. "I remember him, he was the one who opened my vault the first time I ever went to Gringotts…I didn't like the bugger much."

"Does anyone ever like goblins anyways?" I retorted with a raised eyebrow. "And I wouldn't worry too much about past reputations; I mentioned you in my little discussion with him and he seemed glad to help…well as long as his greedy little heart was satisfied."

After a brief moment of stunned silence, Harry nodded his head and set his face while he said, "Well if it's our only shot I say we'd better take the chance while we can."

"Yeah—even if it is bloody dangerous," Ron agreed with an edge of sarcasm, but no one else seemed to notice so I didn't comment on it.

Hermione, who had remained quiet since her brief recount of Hogwarts' legends earlier, bit her lip and nodded. Finally, she opened her mouth and a glimmer of courage settled itself in her two chocolate brown eyes. "I say we go for it."

I grinned at the sudden bolster in courage and nodded. "We can do this you know."

"We're in this together," Hermione suddenly declared as her eyes and face shone in hope and courage.

"Forever," I added, my own lips curled up into a relieved smile.

"Until You-Know-Who is finished," Ron added bravely, sticking his chest out slightly, but I couldn't tell if he was mocking the situation or not, but I at least hoped he wasn't.

"Once and for all," Harry agreed in a quietly brave voice, and his eyes found mine. We knew we were going to be in this together, regardless of how the situation occurred. Harry and I would always find our way to one another because of the bond we shared—the bond I had inherited from my grandfather.

"Once and for all," I echoed in a mere whisper that was more for Harry's benefit than anyone else's.

&

**I've noticed quite a bit of slack in the review department. I really do love it when I get reviewed, so perhaps you could spare one for me just once? hahah, just kidding. But if you do like the story, let me know! :)**


	12. Surprise, Surprise

_So, because I believe I have some people reading this story now ;) I thought I'd finish updating the revised chapters. Anyways, here's another revamped one. You know what to do with it. Read & Review :)_Chapter Twelve: Surprise, Surprise

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_**Because **__of the urgency of the situation, we cleaned up the tent immediately and within the half-hour most of everything was packed and ready to go._ I stood beside the very edge of the campsite and prepared to take down all the enchantments I put up to protect us all.

Shouldering her pack, Hermione looked directly at me and said, "This is the most dangerous thing we have ever done—we better not fail."

"You have no idea what dangerous is," Harry replied grimly and looked her straight in the eye. "This isn't the first and certainly won't be the last dangerous thing we do, so if you feel compelled to leave then do so." His words were unnaturally harsh, and I knew that he didn't even realize he was acting exceedingly bitter.

"Harry," I said soothingly, placing my hand on his forearm. "This isn't really the time to be doing that. We'll have all of eternity to bicker with each other after all of this is said and done." I laughed nervously, waiting for his reaction.

He hesitated for the briefest of seconds before putting his arms around me and crushing me to his chest. Stunned into submission, I just stared blankly at the t-shirt I was crushed against and vaguely heard him say, "I know…I know Lizzie."

Underneath the hard exterior, there was a boy who was tearing at the seams from all of this stress. He was so childlike, so innocent I was almost scared to touch him—I feared he might actually break once and for all. "Oh Harry," I murmured into his shirt, but what instantly pulled me back into reality was the hammering of his heart. Eyes widening, I pulled away with a small gasp and flashed him an apologetic look when he dropped his arms. "We're not going to let you go," I stuttered hurriedly, hoping to cover up the intimate occurrence, but failing horribly.

"I know you guys won't," He said quickly, realizing that I had no idea how to cover this up. "Because if you do then we lose everything." He flashed a smirk in Ron and Hermione's direction then his eyes settled on me again.

Trying hard to forget the sound of his heart beating, I looked up at him and smirked with my familiar swagger. "Nothing like an incentive, eh?"

"And so here it goes," He nodded at me and I began undoing the protective enchantments. "Just outside the Cauldron remember."

"Watch yourselves," Hermione added, her voice breaking out of its stunned silence. "We don't really want Death Eater bogies on our bums." She pulled out her own wand and glanced at me with a familiar smile. "Eh?"

"Of course not," I agreed cockily and finally whipped the last spell off of our protection. "And now," My voice dropped into seriousness, as did my face. "Everything rides on what we do now—don't forget that."

Hermione nodded with a grim look of determination on her face and she grabbed Ron's arm; a moment later they Disapparated with a faint 'pop', leaving Harry and I in the clearing.

I prepared to Disapparate as well, but a hand enclosed on my wrist and prevented me from vanishing on the spot. I looked over my shoulder and threw a disgustedly furious look at Harry. "Haven't you ever heard of people splinching themselves?" I demanded angrily, but he seemed not to notice.

"Sorry Lizzie," He said quickly, trying to move onto the subject he really wanted to talk about. Taking another quick breath, he continued, "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Brow furrowing in confusion and surprise, I opened my mouth but quickly closed it again. It wouldn't do either of us good if we got into a conversation like that here. "Sorry Harry," I told him shortly and pulled my arm away from him. "But Hermione and Ron could be in a swarm of Death Eaters for all we know. It wouldn't be right to…discuss things here." And without another word, or backwards glance, I Disapparated.

After the familiar sensation of squeezing oneself down a narrow tube, I appeared right next to Hermione and Ron and Harry appeared a moment later, looking distinctly disgruntled.

"Coast's clear," Ron affirmed quickly and glanced back at the two of us, obviously not picking up on the undercurrents of tension rippling from Harry and I. "It's been clear ever since we got here."

"And I've used Fred and George's Extendable Ears and it seems that there aren't any Death Eaters inside the pub either…actually I don't think _anyone's _in there," Hermione murmured while tugging at one of the Extendable Ears dolefully.

"Yeah, it looks a right foul mess," He said sadly. "Those last Death Eater's did a number on the place…I didn't see Tom either."

Despite the bitter exterior, Harry's face crumpled in pain as he remembered the good-natured bartender, however he didn't say a word on the subject.

"Well that's all I need," I told them seriously and gripped my wand even harder. "I say we get moving now."

Ron's description of the pub was no where near the actuality of it—in reality the pub looked like it had been hit by a particularly violent tornado that ripped _everything_ from the walls and turned the entire place onto its side. It took us nearly five minutes just to navigate through the place and reach the back door. Unfortunately, the door was blocked by a heavy looking object none of us dared to move, but Hermione's quick thinking saved us all and soon the way out was clear.

We all walked up to the solid brick wall in front of us and stared up at it, slightly frozen in the moment. After a minute Hermione had been the only one to snap out of the stupor and tap the bricks in the correct order, then Diagon Alley appeared before us…but things had changed.

"This isn't at all like I remember." Harry stared at it with wide, semi-frightened eyes. "I can't believe it…" His eyes scanned the sides of the alleyway and he shook his head in dismay as he saw the broken shops and empty streets.

"No it isn't the same," I agreed in a dark voice as my own eyes scanned the alleyway quickly. "There isn't a place that hasn't been touched by Voldemort's ruthlessness."

Hermione looked at the grim scene before them and shuddered violently. "It's freezing!" She hissed in shock and pulled her cloak tighter around her body.

"Dementors tend to have that affect on you," I muttered bluntly as I pulled my own cloak tighter. "Keep an eye out for them too."

"Bloody hell—Dementors too?" Ron asked as he fastened his cloak shut.

"I know," I said and started walking forward. "Just keep an eye out."

Harry grimaced slightly. "These Dementors aren't helping. They're really close."

"Probably the outskirts or Knockturn Alley," I told them briefly while glancing over my shoulder. "They need somewhere dark, but they also need to monitor things around her for Voldemort I'm sure."

"As if he didn't have Death Eaters to do that," Hermione muttered through clenched teeth.

"That's never enough for him," I said shortly as we passed Ollivander's old wand shop, then the Flourish and Blotts, and so many other places that were broken into or completely destroyed. In the window of the Apothecary a hooded figure stood watching us. My skin crawled a little, but I shrugged it off—if it was a Death Eater they would have attacked already.

Harry also seemed to have noticed because a moment later I felt his fingers slide into my empty palm, and he squeezed his fingers around my own.

When I looked back I saw he had his head down so that no one could tell what he was thinking. Smoothly I drew back and walked right beside him, taking his arm in mine as we passed by the Apothecary. "It's going to be alright; I see Gringotts up ahead," I murmured to him, keeping my eyes forward, and soon I did see the snowy white marble of the bank protruding forward like a beacon of light in a dark sky.

"I know."

As soon as we passed out of ear-shot I slowly let go of Harry's arm and walked a step or two in front of everyone else again. "I'm assuming we all remember the plan?"

They all nodded tensely, but only Hermione met my gaze and I suddenly had an in-depth look at her feelings—she was scared beyond belief.

"Remember," I warned them, trying my best to ignore Hermione's frightened stare. "Only Griphook knows of this plan so try not to interact with the other goblins. If we aren't careful we could end up having dragons flying after us—and as Harry knows," I glanced his way and managed a smirk. "Dragons aren't pretty things."

Harry acknowledged the obvious compliment with a raise of his head as he said, "Risky business."

"And that is how it's going to be until Voldemort is gone."

"Unfortunately."

"Yep—" I began to agree, but something else much more urgent cut off my words. After a sharp intake of breath, I began to feel every sense I possessed scream with warning. My flesh erupted into goosebumps and shortly after my ears tuned into something I thought was the swish of a cloak. Without waiting for something awful to greet me from behind, I looked over my shoulder and gasped again when I thought I saw something flash ahead.

"What's wrong?" Harry demanded; it was almost as if he was attuned to my senses because I could register the faint note of panic in his voice. I could also feel his eyes boring holes into the back of my head, trying to figure out what was going on.

"N-nothing," I replied unconvincingly and spun back around to face them all. "Let's go."

Ron and Hermione's faces tightened when they saw my slightly panicked face, but they nodded and headed toward Gringotts, leaving Harry behind with me. The instant they shuffled far enough away Harry turned on me again.

"What did you see?" He demanded in a hushed voice.

"I thought I saw something, but I'm sure I didn't," I replied tightly, but that wasn't enough for Harry. As I headed forward he clamped his fingers tightly around my wrist and pulled me around to face him. "Harry I thought I—you need to get Ron and go inside _now_."

"What?" He asked in shock, but didn't follow my gaze, which had locked on what I was sure was a Death Eater looming in the background of this terrible scene.

"Get Ron and get inside Gringotts now—go!" I pushed him towards Gringotts, fully aware of the Death Eater that was beginning to tail us. "Just go—for Merlin's sake just listen to me for once Harry!" I whispered as he continued to resist. "Ron, get Harry inside _now_," I ordered as soon as we caught up with the others. "Hermione, we're going this way." By now I was moving at a reckless pace and I had grabbed Hermione's wrist. When I glanced over at Ron and Harry, I saw that Ron had successfully acknowledged my words of panic and was towing Harry inside of the bank.

"What on earth was that about Lizzie?" Hermione asked as I whirled her around so we could start running. "Lizzie—"

"Come on!" I practically screamed at her as the two of us ran down the street that ran parallel to Gringotts. Finally, I pulled her around so she was standing in front of me, panting as though we had just run a marathon.

"So what was that about?" She demanded breathlessly and glared at me through deeply unsatisfied chocolate brown eyes.

"It was about absolutely nothing," I replied shortly, but glanced over my shoulder again which gave away my true feelings—and what was really going on. Harry and Ron had vanished, but the cloaked figure I saw earlier was hovering where we had just been—and from what I could tell he was focused on the two of us. "I don't like what's going on here."

"Neither do I," Hermione agreed, but instead of glancing around me she pulled her cloak tighter around her shoulders. "What are we doing here?"

"This is the door I talked about; all of the employees use it, but Griphook said he could manage to sneak us in." I finally tore my gaze away from the cloaked figure and noticed that her fingers were clenched tightly around her wand. "You might want to put that away," I cautioned honestly and watched her throw me a brief look of concern. "Goblins—"

"Don't like magic, I know," She finished with a look of understanding and swept the wand into her cloak again.

I smirked despite the situation, but didn't get the chance to say anything because the employee door creaked open suddenly. I grabbed Hermione's wrist and pulled her away from the door and we sprinted down the nearest side street we could, avoiding the goblin—which turned out not to be Griphook—that walked out the door.

Hermione panted beside me, but she kept her back pressed firmly against the grimy wall of the alleyway we had run into. "Look!" She hissed and pointed over my shoulder as a cloaked figure walked towards the goblin.

"NO!" Before I could even think through what was going on, I had screamed out as the goblin fell forward after a bright flash of sickly green light. My hand, which had come over my mouth in a shocked gasp of surprise, dropped into my cloak as soon as I saw whoever the cloaked figure was look up and stare down the alley Hermione and I were in. "No, no, no," I muttered savagely and began to back up as the Death Eater walked forward, obviously intent on killing us now.

"What was that thing?" She gasped over my shoulder as I backed into her. "Hang on, Lizzie move." She grabbed my wrist and pulled me away from her as she pointed her own wand upwards. _"REDUCTO!"_ She cried and the tops of the two buildings on either side of the alleyway crumbled and the debris poured down into the patch of alley we had just vacated.

"Clever," I praised briefly and glanced at her.

"So I've been told," She responded in kind and assessed the situation quickly before turning to me. "So what do we do now?"

"We've got to get to Gringotts."

"How?"

I looked up and smirked. "We could always Apparate to the top of the building."

"Will it work?"

"Hang on."

A second later there was a faint pop and the both of us stood on top of the nearest building. I rushed to the edge and looked down and sure enough I saw the hooded figure from earlier. Hermione ran up next to me and she pointed, but I simply nodded and drew my wand.

"You aren't—"

"I am." I aimed my wand at the hooded person and shouted, _"STUPEFY!"_ and a red jet of light erupted from the end of my wand the person looked up and couldn't jump out of the way—he was stunned. Suddenly, after my brief moment of triumph, I began to feel a slight chill in the very center of my bones; knowing what it was I closed my eyes and exhaled before snapping them open again. "Run," I ordered in a raw voice that startled me.

Hermione stumbled forward and turned to look back at me. "What?" She asked, thoroughly bewildered by the sudden change in my voice. But then she felt what I did and shivered uncontrollably. "Dementors."

"RUN!" I shouted at her as I saw the first black thing descend from the thick, omnipresent grey sky. "HERMIONE GO!" I screamed as she pulled out her own wand while shivering incessantly. _She's weak, she's weak—oh Merlin she won't survive this. _

"We're in this together Lizzie!" She shouted back at me as the wind suddenly picked up, enveloping us both in a terrible chill that reached the very marrow of our bones. We backed into each other and stared in horror as upwards of ten Dementors descended upon the two of us. Hermione, being the quick wit, had enough sense to shout, "_EXPECTO PATRONUM!_" and a silvery, sleek otter erupted from the end of her wand.

Fighting the chilling cold with a grimace, I raised my own wand and yelled, "_EXPECTO PATRONUM!_" at the top of my lungs and a shining phoenix erupted from the end of my wand. The phoenix joined the otter on its protective circle around the two of us.

Amazingly enough, Hermione was holding her own against the Dementors; her otter was as beautiful as ever, fighting against the black, hooded creatures that were determined to deliver us a fate worse than death.

Suddenly, a voice broke into my thoughts of happiness and I saw a silver stag fly toward the two of us, followed by a Jack Russell terrier, which eagerly joined our Patronuses and began to offer us quadruple protection from the devastating cold.

Gasping and torn out of my moment of happiness, I turned to see Harry and Ron running towards us with their wands outstretched. "Harry, _no_!" I screamed at him when a Dementor suddenly descended too quickly for Harry's stag and almost caught the Boy-Who-Lived up in its scabby, gray arms, but my phoenix immediately darted in that direction due to my petrified scream.

"We can't hold all of these off!" Hermione shouted suddenly and I realized she was near hysterics. We were losing this battle. "_That_ way!" She cried out and flailed her arms to show her otter the direction in which it should go.

She was right though, we didn't stand a chance up here by ourselves against all of these Dementors if they kept coming like this. I glanced at my phoenix to make sure I could break the spell for a millisecond so I could blow a hole in the roof of the building. As if sensing my thoughts, my phoenix suddenly gleamed brighter than everyone else's Patronus and I pulled my wand away, shouting, "_REDUCTO!_" at the same exact moment, pointing my wand at the ceiling below us. Without even saying anything to anybody, we all instantly fell and amid the roar of a chilling wind, the dismayed howls of Dementors and our own petrified screams, we descended into darkness.

As soon as we had dropped into the building the Dementors disappeared, not wishing to trap themselves in an enclosed place and it was obvious they believed we had killed ourselves anyways. I popped up first, shoving aside as much rubble as I could; luckily I had thought to cast a cushioning charm so that we wouldn't die as soon as we hit the floor.

"Hermione?" Ron coughed next and his head came out of the rubble beside me. He looked worn and dirty, but at least he was safe. His eyes met mine and we both nodded at each other, making sure we were alright. "Hermione?"

"Here!" She called in response and the first thing we saw of her was a hand in the air, followed my a whooshing noise and the dispersing of rubble; after that, her body tumbled forward and she stood up easily, brushing the stray dirt off her robes and smoothing her hair. "That was unconventional," She said tartly, eyeing me peculiarly for a moment. "But worth it—thank you Lizzie."

That was what I was waiting for; Hermione never exposed anything but gratitude for me, and it made me slightly uneasy, but I accepted it all the same. "I want to keep you guys alive just as much as me, don't worry about it." Suddenly I realized that there was a fourth very important member of our gang that had not cleared the rubble yet. "Harry?" I called out, hoping to Merlin that he would answer. "Harry where are you?"

"H-here!" He coughed and I saw a flash of black hair against the dusty red and grey of the debris. "Can someone--?" But before he could even finish I was at his side and clearing the loose stones and wood away.

"Here," I extended my hand and pulled him up and he accidentally ran into me on his way up. "O-oomph!" I cried when I suddenly tumbled backwards, but he kept a firm hold on my hand and held me to him.

"Sorry about that," He mumbled guiltily and released my hand as soon as I was stabilized. "Are we continuing with our plan?" He glanced over at Ron and Hermione, who watched us with mild interest, and then back at me.

Flushing slightly—something I rarely did—I shook my head and glanced back at Hermione. "I think that Hermione and I should go into Gringotts…it seems you two have already attracted attention." And that's something that made all of us uneasy. "You'll go in the side door as we had originally planned—tell Griphook we'll be waiting out front."

"Are you sure? I don't like the thought of you two going out there…" He looked at me nervously before continuing, "It's a lot of Death Eaters."

I shook my head and suppressed a grin. "How many times over do I have to show you that I am perfectly capable? It isn't going to be that bad, honestly." I glanced back at Hermione and she nodded stoically. "We'll be fine."

After grimacing for several minutes more, Harry nodded his head and looked over at Ron, who did the same. "Fine," He agreed shortly.

"Honestly, I'm more worried about _you_."

"Don't be."

"Well be careful anyways." I turned to go, satisfied with my response, but his hand snatched my wrist and pulled me to him. "What's this?" I tried to joke, but my voice wavered slightly under the sudden intensity of the situation.

"Be careful," He murmured into my ear and slowly released me. His jade eyes glimmered slightly when I staggered backwards, but he said nothing else as I turned and began walking away, my head still in the clouds.

And then Hermione fell into step beside me and said, "To Gringotts?"

Feeling particularly grim now, as all the other strange emotions evaporated due to the seriousness of the moment, I nodded and replied, "To Gringotts."


	13. Death Eater Trouble

_Another chapter. And just a fair warning, the next few chapters mirror events from JK Rowling's last book quite exactly. However, I do not mean to copy Ms. Rowling's work in any way, shape, or form. Let me make the public disclaimer for a second time: I am **not** JK Rowling and I do **not** intend to take her characters and world and use them for my own publication purposes. _

_So, past all that stuff, I hope you enjoy it! And don't forget to review!_

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**Part I: Helga Hufflepuff's Cup**

Chapter Thirteen: Death Eater Trouble

_Hermione __and I stood at the doors of the snowy white, marble building bearing down upon us. _We waited for the doorman to accept us in, but he was currently pulling someone else aside. Suddenly, Hermione brushed her hand past mine and when I turned my eyes on her she flicked hers forward toward the door.

Glancing one last time at the doorman, I nodded and we both slipped into the bank unnoticed. In one swift, simultaneous motion we loosened our cloaks and slid our wands into the easiest accessible pocket.

Keeping our heads low and ourselves fairly unobtrusive, we meandered through the lobby area until we found an available goblin. Taking great care not to seem out of place, we walked over to the goblin and nodded our heads in greeting.

"What can I do for you?" The goblin asked in that strange, gravely and croaky voice all goblins seemed to possess.

"We'd like to make a withdrawal," I announced as clearly and carefully as possible. He started to open his mouth to ask the next question, but I shook my head. "I'd like to request services from Mister Griphook if you don't mind; he has helped us before with this type of withdrawal and I'd much appreciate it if he could aide us again." Smiling benignly, I waited for the goblin to agree and get Griphook.

The goblin, as shrewd as ever, looked over his spectacles at us and appraised us very carefully. "Well," He responded slowly. "He's presently in the back doing business. I shall have to fetch him."

"We will wait," I said shortly. "Thank you so much." I slid my hand into Hermione's elbow and turned around, pulling her with me. "So we'll head to the back waiting room where Griphook said he'll meet us," I hissed in her ear.

Hermione nodded silently and followed my lead as I scooted around her.

We walked to the furthest waiting room available and sat down in the hardback chairs. My eyes traveled to the only other occupant in the room and I noticed the silvery sheen of blond hair. Hermione seemed to have recognized the man because she turned away abruptly, her eyes wide in terror.

Luckily the man's face was buried behind the _Daily Prophet_ and he took no notice of us.

Hermione bent over her bag and dug for something in it. She immediately whipped out a piece of parchment and a quill.

Lucious Malfoy; we have to get out of here now. He knows me by recognition and if he sees Harry or Ron he'll alert Voldemort I'm sure.

I scanned through the note quickly, my own eyes widening in fear. I pulled out my wand and muttered, _"Incendio." _under my breath. The parchment lit on fire and I muttered, _"Aguamenti."_ to put it out. "Go," I mouthed silently. "Go now."

With one last glance at me, Hermione stood swiftly and disappeared from the room without drawing much attention to herself—and for that I was thankful.

Not wanting to seem too conspicuous, I stayed in my seat and looked up at the ceiling while I slid my hand into my cloak, my hand circling the narrow strip of wood that was my wand.

Thankfully, Malfoy didn't notice a single thing. Either he was too absorbed in the _Daily Prophet_ article, or he was doing an excellent job pretending ignorance.

Feeling it was safe, I stood and prepared to leave the waiting room to meet up with the others but a hand wound its way around my wand arm and pulled it behind my back. Wincing in pain my eyes flashed over in the seat where Malfoy had just been sitting, but he wasn't there; so he was only pretending, the damned crook.

Gritting my teeth, I shouted, "Let go of me!"

"Actually Miss, I won't be doing that. I'm afraid I don't know who you are, but more importantly, _why_ are you hanging around that filthy mudblood Granger?"

I whimpered when he twisted my arm further and tried to pull away, but it was in vain. "Let go!" I cried again and realizing my left arm was free, I dug it into my cloak and yanked out my wand. "_Stupefy!_"

Out of shock, he let go of me, but the spell missed him by scant inches. He whipped out his own wand, but I was already flying through the doorway into the next waiting room.

"_Impedimenta!" _I shouted over my shoulder. I felt a spell hiss past my ear and heard him begin to cast the Killing Curse. I spun around and aimed my wand directly at him. _"Immobulus!" _I cried and saw him freeze immediately.

"Freeze," A hoarse voice commanded as I whipped back around. He pointed his wand at my heart and made me skid to a stop and start stepping backwards.

"Hmm how interesting…" Someone else said and stepped out of the shadows. "The Dark Lord never mentioned a fourth person."

I whirled around to face the voice and gasped. In one moment I was surrounded by Death Eaters of all shapes and sizes. I looked left and right and saw there was no escape—I was trapped and there were too many of them for me to hold off alone.

"_Incendio!" _Someone screamed and a ring of fire burst around me. "Lizzie, run!"

"_Aguamenti!" _I cried, clearing a path for me to leap through the flames. I spun around once I cleared the flames and saw someone backing away. _"Petrificus Totalus!" _I shouted and saw his arms and legs snap together as he fell.

"Lizzie!" Hermione cried from the hall. "Lizzie, come on!"

I turned and ran for her.

"_Stupefy! Impedimenta! Immobulus! Stupefy!" _Hermione cried, stunning, immobilizing or slowing down anyone she saw move.

I met up with her and spun around. _"FLAGRATE!" _I roared and a jet of flame erupted out of my wand.

"_Aguamenti!" _Someone countered and beat back my fire.

"_Locomotor Mortis!" _Hermoine cried and the man who countered my fire's legs locked together and he fell to the floor. "Lizzie come _on_!"

"_Protego!" _I cried and cast the shield charm around the both of us.

Hermione grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the Death Eaters. "We have to go! Death Eaters are swarming the area!"

"Voldemort?"

"No—DUCK!" She cried as a jet of green light erupted over our heads.

"Harry and Ron? Griphook?"

"Waiting by the cart—that's why we have to hurry!"

"Hermione—Hermione MOVE!" I shoved her aside as the spell exploded where she had just been standing. I spun around. _"STUPEFY!" _I shouted in the general direction of where the spell was cast.

"We have to go Lizzie!" Hermione cried, dodging a spell and casting one of her own. She grabbed my arm once more and we ran into the main lobby with all the goblins.

"You there—stop!" A goblin shouted at us. "What's going on?"

"They're with me!" Griphook cried, running forward. "You two, come on!" He hissed hurriedly. "Death Eaters amok!" He bristled angrily. "You did _not _tell me you would be drawing so much attention Miss Porter."

"I didn't know!" I cried frantically. "Let's just go, please." I looked over my shoulder and saw the Death Eaters running after us. "Can we Apparate in here?" I demanded.

"Yes."

"Take us!" I grabbed the goblin's arm and held onto Hermione's hand. "GO! Go now!!"

Griphook snarled and we all vanished from the Death Eater's view but not before dozens of spells erupted beside us. A second later we felt the familiar sensation of being sucked down a narrow tube, and then there was a faint pop and we reappeared somewhere else entirely.

"Hermione!" And a second later she was enveloped in a big hug by someone with vivid red hair.

"Lizzie, thank Merlin!" Harry cried and before I even had time to breathe, I was engulfed by his arms.

Going against my better judgment, I clung to him desperately. "Harry!" I gasped. "Thank Merlin you're all right—I thought—oh I thought something terrible had happened!" I buried my face into his shoulder and squeezed his waist tightly.

"Me?! My God Lizzie—what about you and Hermione? You were a target of at least ten Death Eaters!" His arms tightened around my shoulders and he refused to let go for several moments until Griphook interrupted us.

"We have to move," Griphook said curtly. "Come on now." He got into the Gringott's cart.

I broke away from Harry rather slowly and climbed into the cart next to him. "Come on." I told the rest of them. Harry climbed in behind me, his hand on my shoulder protectively. Hermione, climbed in next to Harry and Ron got in next to her, still holding her hand.

"Blimey, ten Death Eaters and you managed to hold them off?" Ron asked incredulously.

"Yeah, with Hermione's help of course."

"Blimey."

"We have to move quickly," Griphook said sharply. "The Death Eaters know you're here and one wrong move will leave you at a loss."

Instinctively, I grabbed Harry's hand on my shoulder and looked at Griphook, feeling the fire burning in my eyes as I stared directly at him. "There's no reason we should fail unless you lead us astray. We know what we have to get and we're not leaving until we get it."

The shrewd goblin stared at me for a millisecond before nodding his head a fraction of an inch. "Very well." And without further ado the cart sped off along the tracks that lead to what could very well be our own form of hell.

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**A/N:** _The next chapter is a continuation of finding Helga Hufflepuff's cup and subsequently destroying it. I really could have combined these two chapters, but I kept it separate for viewing pleasure. _


	14. Helga Hufflepuff's Cup

_Just a continuation of the last chapter, obviously. Same rules apply: mirrors those events in Ms. Rowling's book quite exactly, but it is not for any terrible deeds. I'm just a simple fanfiction writer exploring the creative world of writing. _

_Enjoy!_

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**Part II: Helga Hufflepuff's Cup**

Chapter Fourteen: Helga Hufflepuff's Cup

_Many __have told stories of the unpleasant journeys through the mines of Gringotts, but no story could ever compare to the one we had. _More often than not, I felt as though I was going to fall out of the cart into the dark caverns beneath us. I felt my stomach turn over more than once and my eyes grow watery with tears from the sting of the wind. Finally, after I felt my entire breakfast rise up into my throat, I had to resort to clamping my eyes shut and gripping Harry's hand tightly.

The cart swerved suddenly, and with my eyes closed I thought I was tumbling over the edge so I let out a bloodcurdling scream and felt Harry's hands on my arm. Behind us Hermione shrieked in terror and Ron very loudly, and bluntly, shouted, "Bloody hell mate!"

"We're nearly there," Griphook remarked calmly, obviously not picking up on our signs of sheer terror—or ignoring them at least.

"Good," I breathed and my eyes popped open. "I don't think I can take much m-m—DRAGON!" I shrieked deafeningly as my eyes practically popped out of my head.

"What in the bloody hell—?" Ron swore vehemently as we flew onward.

The cart zoomed even faster as it went further and further down into the dark abyss. Very suddenly, and sharply, the cart screeched to a stop sending us all forward a good inch or two and tearing the breath from our lungs.

"The Lestrange's vault," Griphook said as he hopped out, seemingly unaffected by the sudden stop. "After you Miss Porter."

After a minute of gaining my breakfast, and senses, I swung my legs out of the cart and got out as quickly as possible. "I am never doing _that_ again," I remarked dryly as I passed the goblin, who merely grunted in reply.

Griphook didn't bother to wait for Harry, Hermione and Ron to get their stomachs and legs back, and he darted forward to the rather eerie looking vault that belonged to the only woman in Voldemort's army. He fiddled with the door of the monolithic vault and it opened very slowly. "Hurry up—don't touch a thing," He hissed as we passed him.

"The cup, the cup," I kept muttering with my wand out, prodding things carefully. "Helga Hufflepuff come on." I got lost in my search for the cup that I barely registered everyone else's goings on beside me; suddenly Griphook's voice tore me out of my solitude.

"You boy—no!" Griphook snarled as Ron tripped over something and fell face first into a pile of gold.

And suddenly the considerable amount of gold was multiplying within the vault—too fast for any of us to try and stop it. So _that_ was why Griphook had told us not to touch anything. _Oh Merlin._

"HURRY UP!" I shouted suddenly, my voice reverberating off the walls of gold appearing beside me. "Touch it now—it doesn't matter! GO!" I shoved some gold aside and leapt out of the way of a flying shield.

Hermione, her voice muffled by the sudden appearance of gold in front of her, shouted, "This isn't exactly easy Lizzie!" as she backed into the wall.

I looked around frenetically, ignoring the gold that was spraying my back. "Damn it!" I shouted and waved my wand, ignoring the considerable amount of gold that bounced off me. _"Accio Helga Hufflepuff's cup!"_ I cried loudly. Nothing flew to my hand as it should have—_DAMN it!_ But then I realized something wiggling oddly above Harry's head and I— "HARRY, HARRY above your head!"

"Death Eaters!!" Griphook hissed worriedly—the first true emotion the goblin had shown since we had arrived here.

The gold, finally getting to be too much, made me reach and back up against the wall as quickly as I could. My fingers scrabbled over stone and more metal, but I turned to look over my shoulder and scream, "Harry get the cup! HARRY—" I was cut off as I tried very hard to keep myself upright, but that was impossible. I tumbled forward into a sea of gold and silver and nearly drowned in it. I kept my head above the precious metals and looked to see Harry reaching desperately for the cup.

"I've—I've got it!" Harry shouted back as he hooked a finger around the sacred object. "I've got the cup!"

"Lizzie!" Someone coughed out, and I thought I saw a flash of red hair disappear under a sea of gold and silver.

"Oh this is silly! We're being so stupid!" Hermione shrieked frantically and then she shouted, "_REDUCTO!_" and the wall of gold and silver in front of her exploded violently, but we all got the idea.

"_Reducto!" _

"_Reducto!"_

"_Reducto!"_ I cried and blasted the gold out of my way and finally after many more shouts of the exploding spell we were all able to spill out of the vault with several angry, red welts on our skin. "Burning charms," I muttered and quickly traced some major burns on my arm and flinched when I found they hurt quite terribly.

"D-d-dra…dragon!" Ron screamed and pointed.

Feeling my heart plummet through the stone ground, I followed Ron's shaking finger and saw the obviously furious, wizened face of a dragon staring back at us with cat-like eyes and a horribly red mouth—fire breathing. I gaped. _Oh Merlin no._

"No!" Hermione shouted suddenly. "Don't attack it—its armor will reflect any spell!" She pressed her back against the far wall and yanked Ron back with her. "Move Harry!"

The dragon roared deafeningly and I felt the hot breath build in the back of its throat and saw the redness of the mouth begin to glow—but I couldn't move. There was no way I would have been able to dart out of the way of a mature dragon's flame so I did the only thing I could do. "_AGUAMENTI!"_ I shouted as the dragon released a flame that could easily burn me to a crisp.

"Lizzie!" Hermione screamed. "LIZZIE NO!"

I felt the dragon's fire beat back my jet of water easily, but because the fire was already concentrated on one spot I leapt out of the way as fire landed and scorched where I had just been standing. I scrambled up to a sitting position and watched Harry back away from the dragon, still holding onto the cup.

_The cup—dragon's fire—magic. _The thought crashed down on me like a waterfall. Dumbly, I stared at the cup and realized that destroying this Horcrux could be easier than I thought. "Harry—Harry—" But before I could actually finish what I was saying, I was being pushed back to the wall.

"Harry move!" Hermione screamed. "Harry no!"

"Throw the cup in the way of the dragon's fire!" I shouted at him. "Burn the cup now Harry!" I was now pressed back against the wall and couldn't move due to the roaring flames in front of me. "Harry, you have to burn the cup!"

"Death Eaters!" I heard Ron shout from somewhere near Hermione.

"HARRY!" I screamed. _"Aguamenti!" _I shouted, clearing a path through the flames for me. "Hermione, Ron where are you?" I cried, dodging the flames the dragon expelled from his mouth. After whipping around to avoid them, I cleared another path using the same spell as I had before and leapt over them.

"Liz—aghh!" Hermione shrieked.

"Ron, grab Hermione and MOVE!" I yelled at him and waved my wand furiously as I cried, _"REDUCTO!"_ and blast apart the support stones, sending them crashing down over the cart tracks.

"Hermione come on!" Ron pleaded from somewhere to my left.

"No!" She said furiously. "We have to help Lizzie—she can't handle ten Death Eaters on her own!"

"Harry burn the cup!" I screamed as a jet of flame lit my robes on fire. I threw them off easily and in one fluid motion I shouted, "_STUPEFY!"_ In the general direction that the Death Eaters were coming in.

"_CRUCIO!" _Someone shouted and I felt the spell whiz by my left ear.

"_IMMOBULUS!" _I shouted back and heard someone groan. _"STUPEFY! IMPEDIMENTA!"_ I shouted and pointed my wand in the same direction, watching all the colors shoot out of my wand, but not really paying attention to them.

"LIZZIE!" Hermione screeched.

"_PROTEGO!"_ I bellowed and the shield charm erupted from my wand, encasing us all in protectiveness, but it wouldn't last very long. "Where's Harry? Ron—where did Harry go?"

"Liz—" Ron said gruffly, grabbing my waist. "Come on."

"Ron, Hermione?" I asked, turning to look at him. "Harry?"

"Lizzie come on!" He grabbed my hand and pulled me along. _"Aguamenti!" _He shouted and cleared a path for us through the dragon's flames.

"No, Ron—NO! Harry has to destroy that cup!" I yanked my hand away from him and felt my head spin around as though it were on a swivel. "Oh Merlin no, where is he?"

"Lizzie I've got it!" Harry shouted as my head whipped around and I saw him throw the cup at the exact moment the dragon breathed fire again. The black head disappeared as he hurled himself out of the way as the cup exploded violently, shaking the floor and ground and sent a shower of sparks and fragments of gold down upon us all.

My head shot up and suddenly my feet were forced off the ground. I threw my hands over my head as both Ron and I were thrown into a stone wall. Somewhere nearby I heard Hermione scream and the distinctive thump of a body hitting the wall.

I scrambled to sit up, despite the painful ache in my back, and heard Ron groan next to me.

"_Avada Ke—" _

"_STUPEFY!" _I bellowed at the person who was attempting the Killing Curse. The Death Eater shot backwards. _"FURNUNCULUS!" _I shouted and heard someone scream in pain as he burst out in boils. I pushed myself off the ground and ran across the heavily burning area to get to Harry.

"_Immobulus,"_ Someone hissed and I felt my body go rigid within seconds.

My breath caught in my throat as I saw the Death Eater pass beside me and head for where Harry was curled up. _No, damn it NO!_ I thought to myself fiercely and by some unknown reason I felt my wand arm go free. _"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" _I shouted at the Death Eater and had the satisfaction of seeing his arms and legs snap together as he fell to the floor with a sickening thud.

"Oh Lizzie," Hermione breathed from next to me and she undid the Freezing Charm as quickly as possible.

"Harry," Was all I said as I shoved past her and Ron and headed right towards him. "Oh God Harry, no." I gasped as I saw him lying on the ground unconscious. "Harry wake up."

Very slowly the Chosen One's eyes flickered open and he looked up at me. "Th-the cup…?" He managed to choke out before he started coughing the life back into him. When he was finished he looked back at me and slowly pulled himself up.

"Yes, yes it is." I smiled thankfully at him, then realized that we were still by a dragon and a bunch of murderous Death Eaters. "We have to go—we have to move now!"

"The support's caving in!" Ron noted frantically.

I grabbed Harry's arm and firmly yanked him to his feet just a bright flash of green light illuminated the entire ruined area with a sickly shade of lime. "Go!" I cried as I heard the telltale creaks and groans of stone supports caving in.

All four of us spun around and ran blindly down a darkened cavern. None of us knew which way was up, but we pushed forward anyways—at least until we heard someone bellow, "_AVADA KEDAVRA!_"

In an instant all four of us flew apart in separate directions, banging into walls, floors and stones. The green jet of light sizzled past the center of where all of us had just been standing, and we all felt our arms prickle with gooseflesh.

"Apparate!" Hermione shrieked. "Apparate—hurry! LIZZIE!" She looked behind her again and then looked back at me.

"_Avada—"_

"My hand! Ron, Harry!" I shouted at them both and felt Hermione's hand close over my wrist and I reached out for Harry and grabbed his hand. "RON!" I cried and in one simultaneous moment a jet of green light flashed by us, Hermione clawed at Ron's back and the familiar sensation of being shoved down a narrow tube happened.

But this apparition was drastically different than I had ever experienced. The four of us pulled apart from one another and we tried in vain to connect again. _What in Merlin's name is going on?!_

Hermione clawed frantically at the air next to me, trying to enclose her fingers around mine, next to me Harry was reaching out desperately and beside Hermione, Ron was lunging in the air, trying to connect with Hermione.

Suddenly, air started blowing wildly in our faces, pushing us back the way we came and hitting us solidly in the chests and we all tried to gain our breath and right ourselves something else happened.

The ground was zooming up and we would hit it in a matter of seconds. "BRACE YOURSELVES!" I shouted as loudly as I could, despite the fact that I had no breath in my lungs. I threw my arms in front of my face just as the ground loomed not two feet away and prepared for impact.


	15. It Comes to This

_Again I come to you faithful readers begging mercy! I don't mean for updates (or revisions) to be so far and few between, but life happens. Again, this is a revision only. The story is primarily finished, I'm just ironing out details and melding the beginning and end together because my writing style changed significantly from chapter one to the epilogue. _

_Enjoy and review :)_

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Chapter Fifteen: It Comes to This

_**And **__then, as if some force had suddenly decided to pull me back into the air, my body went taut just as my face nearly hit the ground below me. _

"Release them," A familiar, yet not so familiar voice commanded and I felt my blood freeze in my very veins.

A second later, the spell that held us all at least six inches off the ground was released and we hit the hard ground with a distinct thud. Beside me, Hermione moaned in pain and I heard Ron and Harry grunt as soon as their faces hit the dirt. Scrambling, I reached for my wand, which had flown out of my hand, and my fingers clawed over thin air.

"_Expelliarmus,"_ The same familiar, yet not so familiar voice whispered silkily and I heard my wand zip away, and its definite catch as it landed in someone's open palm. But the same person said something else that I couldn't quite understand.

Suddenly, I cried out in pain as the wrist of my wand arm started throbbing painfully. I pulled it back to my chest and looked up through the curtain of hair that had come in front of my face. And then the world slowed to a shuddering halt as my eyes met the jet black eyes of the man I swore I would kill if I ever ran into him.

"Lizzie no!" Hermione screamed, but I could barely hear her as I launched forward without another thought in the world.

"DAMN YOU SNAPE!" I shouted at him and forgot all about the excruciating pain in my wrist; I forgot about the three people on the ground behind me; I forgot about my morals and everything else as I rammed into him with all the force I could muster.

He stumbled backwards, shocked by my outburst, and he fell to the ground with my weight on top of him, but he still was able to mutter a spell and point his wand directly at me. A flash of something crossed his eyes that I couldn't understand, but I didn't have the time to decipher it for I was thrown into the air.

I screamed and reached into thin air, trying desperately to slow myself down but it didn't do any good; within the next moment I was thrown brutally into the ground and all the air in my lungs escaped in a loud and painful whoosh of air. I cried out in horror as my back throbbed out its aching beat from being slammed mercilessly into the hard ground beneath me.

"LIZZIE!" Harry bellowed from out of nowhere as I lifted my head and saw him sprinting toward me, not watching anything else but me. He raised his wand arm, unaware of the Death Eaters closing in and I struggled to make words with my mouth.

"H-Harry NO!" I managed to choke out through my pain. I clawed at the dirt and tried desperately to shove myself up to a sitting position, but it was too late. I saw a flash of light from the corner of my eye and watched Harry lift into the air almost gracefully, and then landing onto the ground with a sickening thud that made me wince.

"HARRY!" Hermione cried as she scrambled to stand, her eyes on his immobilized body, fearing the worst I was sure. She started forward, but I saw another flash of light and tried to call out as it slammed into her and threw her violently into the air.

"HARRY!" Ron yelled and scrabbled at the ground before him, trying desperately to stand up and reach his best friends. "HERM—" But he didn't even have the chance as he was hit with a full-body binding spell and stopped in his tracks, a look of sheer pain and horror on his face.

"STOP!" I cried out and slowly stood, despite the blistering ache in my legs and back. I brushed hair out of my face with the arm that continued to throb, but it was no match to the excruciating pain that nearly ripped open my heart as I faced the bloody traitor. Looking him in the eyes, every single emotion that I had spared my body for the many months since my grandfather died flared up in an instant: the desire to kill, the lust for revenge, the uncontrollable rage and the overwhelming sadness of a loss that cut me down to my knees. "You filthy traitor!"

The absence of Hermione's voice begging me to be rational only provoked me to go further.

"You coward! Do you actually think that Voldemort likes you? He likes no one but himself—you mean nothing to him like you meant nothing to everybody else! How dare you kill someone so noble for a lost cause—what is wrong with you?!" I screamed and felt the heat of anger burn through my skin.

Snape's eyes flashed in a way I should have found frightening, but for some reason fear was a deep void in the pit of my stomach. "You silly little girl, what do you think you're doing?" He demanded with a voice that should have made me shrivel to nothing, but I was unable to suppress the desire for revenge that pushed me forward.

"_NO_!" I roared furiously and by some unknown magic I was able to run up to him and slam my entire body weight into him as furiously as possible—despite the pain throbbing in my limbs. "DAMN YOU!" I screamed, ripping his wand from his hand. As I pinned him, I pointed his wand at his too pale throat hiding beneath black curtains of greasy hair. "YOU DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE YOU FOUL, LOATHESOME GIT!" I shouted in his face, and lost every sense possible; in that one moment I was closer to committing murder than I had ever been before.

"Get off me you stupid girl!" He retaliated, flinging me off him like I was a rag doll. Apparently Snape's rage matched mine just as easily, and yet he had no reason for it.

I slid across the dirt, still clutching Snape's wand. I leapt to my feet before I even came to a complete stop and pointed the wand at him. "I hate you Severus Snape—you deserve to die," I spat.

"Who are you?" He sneered, standing to his full height and peering at me through darkened eyes.

A satisfied, yet twisted smirk crossed my face and I barely felt in control of my emotions. "I'm surprised you don't know."

"Don't taunt him Lizzie please!" Another, shrill voice cut through the air and I realized who it was.

"It doesn't matter anymore Hermione! This man killed the only person I ever regarded as family—the only one who actually cared for me. I'm doing this for him!" I shouted back, despite the feeling of relief that had spread across my chest.

"NO!" Ron shouted as he came to. "Lizzie what are you doing?! Don't become a murderer like him!"

"It doesn't matter any more Ron!!" Suddenly I felt someone try and take over my mind's defenses with a great, trembling power. I nearly doubled over, but still maintained eye contact with the traitor, but then I realized who exactly was trying to penetrate my mind. "STOP!" I shouted violently and flicked his wand which sent him flying through the air. "I'm an accomplished Occlumens Snape—it's no good!" As I was shouting I didn't even notice that Snape had somehow gotten another wand and was now pointing it directly at me.

"LIZZIE!"

"NO!"

Suddenly a body rammed into me and sent me to the ground. I looked up and saw Harry laying over me. I couldn't see his face and I screamed aloud, "Harry no! HARRY!" _He can't be dead! Please—say he's not dead!_

From somewhere very far away I heard Hermione screaming horribly and Ron cursing vehemently.

"HARRY!" I screamed again and felt all strength, hope and pain leave my body as I focused solely on him.

And then he stirred and groaned weakly. "I'm—I'm still alive," He managed to whisper as he turned his head toward me and offered a pained smile that barely reached the emerald eyes that seemed to pierce right through me, even though he was half-dead. He pushed himself off me and kneeled protectively in front of me, his back to the crowd of Death Eaters behind us.

"Harry," I sighed, a relieved smile spreading across my face. "Thank Merlin." And then realization hit me with the force of a thousand bricks: I wanted things to always be like this, minus Voldemort. Our eyes met in the longest of gazes and I opened my mouth to tell him something, but Hermione's shrieking cut across the moment.

"LIZZIE! HARRY!"

And in that single moment everything slowed down to a crawl. I lifted my head and looked over Harry's shoulder where I saw a jet of brilliant green light blazing toward the Chosen One. Instinct took over and I released everything I knew. "Harry, move!" I screamed and shoved him to the ground. I landed on top of him this time and the killing spell whizzed over my head, making my hair stand on end. Breathing heavily, I rolled off Harry and stood up as quickly as possible and aimed Snape's own wand right at his chest.

He stared at me through his curtains of greasy hair. His eyes passed over my bright, periwinkle blue ones and finally his eyes widened as he understood everything. "You can't be," He said in a half-awed, half-disgusted voice.

I watched as the thoughts ran through his head and smirked satisfactorily. "Voldemort isn't going to be very happy with you now, is he? You were supposed to finish off the last of the Dumbledore's _but you didn't_. You failed your duty you snake and now you're going to receive every bit of torture and death that comes your way."

A second was all that past, but in that second Snape had somehow managed to wrench his wand away from me and it was at my throat. Breathing heavily, he stared at me through eyes that could kill.

"LIZZIE!" Hermione screamed frantically, stumbling towards the both of us.

"Go ahead and kill me Snape! You know you want—you know you don't want to go back to Voldemort and report that you _failed_!" I taunted, ignoring the wand jabbing into my throat. My eyes never left his and his never left mine; we were locked in a battle that no one could interfere with.

"LIZZIE NO!"

"GO AHEAD AND KILL ME!" I shouted furiously. "GO AND KILL ME LIKE YOU KILLED HIM!" I completely ignored the fact that my death could be right here, right now. I barely registered the evident murder in Snape's eyes, but I swore I saw something else behind the anger. All I could think about was revenge and that if I died, at least I did so fighting.

He pressed his wand harder against my throat wordlessly.

I frowned, wondering why he was hesitating. Anybody would have killed me because of the taunting, but Snape had even _more_ of a reason to kill me and he wasn't doing so. _Am I missing something?_ For the first time doubt was actually entering my mind concerning Snape. _Could Harry have been mistaken?_

"Lizzie—"

"SHUT UP POTTER!" Snape bellowed suddenly, catching me off guard.

I stumbled backwards with the shock, but Snape caught my arm in a grip that cut off all circulation to the rest of my forearm. "Kill me Snape; kill me like you killed my grandfather," I said in a quiet, deadly voice. "Finish us off." I looked down at the ground, and that was the last thing I saw before I flew through the air in a shocked state.

"LIZZIE!" Hermione screamed.

I landed heavily on my already injured back and nearly crumbled under the sheer effort to stand back up again, but only my rage and will power kept me from falling. "Is that all you can do Snape? Come on, you can do better than that!" I shouted, ignoring the throbbing in my legs and back.

Something flickered across his face—wait, was that sadness?

"KILL ME LIKE YOU KILLED MY GRANDFATHER!" I shouted, taking advantage of the momentary weakness. "YOU'RE A HEARTLESS TRAITOR!"

"Lizzie stop! It's not worth it!" Hermione cried from her place on the ground. As I looked over, I saw tears streaming down her face that she couldn't stop.

"Please Lizzie!" Ron said from next to her, his face pale with worry.

Harry stood next to them, watching me with confused and furious eyes; he said nothing and I knew why, but I couldn't do anything about it now. I was who I was and nothing could change that—not even me attempting to change my name. I was a Dumbledore through and through, and eventually Harry would understand.

I forced myself to look away from those who I had come to love and back at Snape. "You're not going to kill me are you?" I said quietly, but he still heard me.

"How—impossible!" He blanched as his face went white.

"Because it's written in your face—maybe you weren't as good at hiding your emotions as you thought you were," I said levelly and called my wand back to me. "Then again, it might be the Dark Lord wearing your defenses down, but I'll never know." I sighed and looked straight at him. "All I know is that I'm not going to be a murderer like you." And without another word I was gone.

&&&

It was just outside London that I decided to stop. I sat on the ground, my back against a large oak tree as I waited for the other three who would eventually find their way to me. Harry's connection with me would make the process of finding me easier.

Several thoughts ran through my mind and I let them run rampant. _I'm no longer Lizzie Porter…I'm Elizabeth Jane Dumbledore._ I sighed. The walls I struggled to keep up to protect Harry had suddenly come crashing down and I couldn't control it—it was no use trying to play up a false charade now. Everything I had worked so hard to keep up was gone.

Suddenly there were three distinct popping noises around me. I didn't even bother to draw a wand as I saw the three shapes I was so familiar with materializing out of the woods surrounding me.

"Where is she?" Hermione's voice asked shakily. "We can't have lost her—where did she go?"

"She's here." Harry's voice.

"How do you know that?" Ron's.

"Because she's sitting by that old oak tree; use your eyes dolt."

Another second past and three pairs of eyes were on me. I didn't look back at them, but I felt them scanning me. Another moment past quietly before there was a rustle of movement and the three figures of Ron, Harry and Hermione were beside me, sitting on the ground.

"It seems I have some things to tell you three," I said in a voice that shocked me; it was as dead and hollow as ever.

"Yeah…yeah you do," Harry agreed in a voice much darker than usual.

"I guess I should start at the beginning." I took a deep breath and focused my gaze on Harry's shoelace peeking out from beneath his jeans. And with a heavy heart, I began the tale of my tragic life, "My real name is Elizabeth Jane Dumbledore, I am Albus Dumbledore's granddaughter and it has always been that way. He had a son, a son that was killed by Voldemort when I was only two years old. That son married my mother, who was also killed at the hands of Voldemort when I was five. My family has been scarred by Voldemort's very presence and it has always been so, from the time I was five years old. After my parents died various relatives took me in until only Grandpa Albus was left," I paused, wiping the tears that had fallen when I brought up the painful memories of my mother and father. "He took me in with all the kindness in the world. I was about ten at the time, and the following year he had me sent off to an academy of magic. He didn't want me to go to Hogwarts because he feared for my safety, as you can imagine. So, thus I was sent away and returned only during the summer holidays to visit my grandfather here in London. He taught me everything he knew, everything he ever wanted me to know, everything to protect you Harry." I took another breath and looked up into the pitch-black sky, willing the tears to stop falling. "Everything was fine for a long time. We lived a relaxed, comfortable life when we were together, and apart he always made sure to write to me. Everything worked out perfectly for me…more perfect than it had been in a long time. I was finally at home with a family member who loved me. I thought that was never going to change…but it did.

"Grandpa Albus wrote to me two days before he was killed saying that if he never saw me again he knew I would do fine in the job that would be passed onto me with his death. He told me that he would always watch over me. He told me not to forget about everything I had learned and two days later I fled from my school and came here, finding my grandfather was dead. I was the only Dumbledore left.

"Harry, you know that prophecy that revolves around you? The one that was lost in the Hall of Prophecies? Well what it didn't mention was that there is a bloodline that's soul duty is to protect the "Chosen One". That's the Dumbledore line—I'm supposed to protect you from Voldemort until the day I die. As long as I live, Voldemort can't get through to you—he'd have to kill me first."

Harry's eyes widened as he looked at me. "I'm not letting anyone else die for me Lizzie—not even if you're supposed to."

I looked away from him, knowing that I couldn't promise him I wasn't going to die. "So now I'm the only one left to protect Harry. That responsibility has fallen to me and me alone…I'm so sorry."

"For what?" He asked, dumfounded.

"Your life is in the hands of an eighteen-year-old girl, that's what."

"I don't care about that Lizzie. You're the one that's kept us alive these many weeks."

"You're a lot stronger than you think you are," Hermione said in a thick voice.

I glanced over at her and saw she had been crying for me. Offering her a weak smile I said, "I'm not as strong as you all think I am."

"You're the best chance we've got Liz," Ron said in a voice that was choked with emotion. "You've gotta stick with us until the end."

I blinked my eyes furiously against the burning I felt. _How can they care about me?_ I wondered. _They barely know me and I've lied to them all this time!_ "Of course I'm staying with you. Harry's my responsibility—it's my destiny. We've got to defeat Voldemort together."

"And we will," Harry promised. "I won't do anything else until Voldemort is finished for good."

"We're in this together," I started quietly, slowly reaching forward into the center of our circle.

"Forever," Ron and Hermione finished, obediently placing their hands on top of mine.

"Until the end mates," Harry added, sticking his hand on top of the knot that had formed between us all.

And in one moment we all knew what we had to do.


	16. Someone Has to Die Regardless

Wow I'm really bad at updating. I'm really sorry guys, but I've just been really busy.  
Anyways, this chapter doesn't have much suspense, but its just one of those chapters with a lot of emotional fighting. Hopefully it will let you guys see what Lizzie's going through and how tough it is for her to be doing this job.

Again, really sorry for the long wait and I hope you enjoy the chapter

**Disclaimer: **JK Rowling owns everything.

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Chapter Sixteen: Someone has to Die Regardless

_I __stood outside of the tent Hermione had erected when I finished my story late last night. _The cool morning air whipped at my face as the sun started to rise, leaving streaks of rose slashing across the dew-covered lawn of the meadow we were currently camping in I watched the globe of mellowed orange light rise into the air as it always did, not caring about what was going on in the earth it warmed.

Ignorance is bliss, as they say.

And yet here I stood, knowing full well what I had to do. I had a mission in which someone's life could be lost if I failed. I was responsible for something other than myself for once, and it made me realize that I couldn't keep worrying about what happened, or what will happen. I had to worry about now, and the person inside the tent whom I was to protect at all costs.

But even with all of this weighing heavily on my mind I couldn't stop feeling complete.

Behind me the flap of the tent stirred. I didn't even turn to check who it was as I began walking forward. I knew it would be Harry, and I knew he wanted to talk to me alone.

"So you're Dumbledore's granddaughter," He said softly as we walked out of earshot of the tent that Hermione and Ron were still in. "Does anybody know about it?"

"No, no one knows about it. Dumbledore kept it secret from everyone; he said it could be used against him."

"I'm…sorry for your loss."

I looked over my shoulder at him. "You lost him too Harry. He was closer to you than anyone I knew."

"But he had you."

"Of course he did, but you were his protectorate—he had to be close to you." I looked forward again. "This isn't going to be easy you know."

"I never thought it would be."

"You are going to lose someone to Voldemort."

He didn't respond and even though I had my back turned to him, I could practically feel the panic, and the stiffness that my statement had just caused.

Without warning, I spun around and faced him, spewing, "You know that you can't keep _everybody_ protected forever Harry—that's just not the case when it comes to Voldemort. It doesn't matter anymore, all that matters is that you stay alive. By keeping you alive the entire magical—and muggle world—can be saved!"

His jade eyes met mine and he nodded slowly, but surely. "I know."

"We still need to find the last Horcrux before Nagini."

"Something that has been lingering on my mind since day one."

"I wish…I wish you didn't have to be put through this Harry…it's hard on anyone's soul."

"You're not invincible either. I see the pain behind your eyes, the cautious way you move. You're scared for your life, but what's even worse is that you're scared for mine. You said yourself that Voldemort couldn't get to me unless he gets through you. You should be worrying about yourself, not me." He watched me as I pressed the palm of my hand to my lips and held it there for a moment. "You can't deny it Lizzie."

I sighed and shook my head, unable to take this anymore. "If I had to pick who would live, I would pick you Harry. I don't care what happens to me, as long as I'm alive enough to keep the protection over you. You're all that matters—you're the only one who can save us all."

"I'm not going to let Voldemort touch you Lizzie," He promised solemnly, ignoring the shaking of my head.

"You don't get it Harry, you can't protect everyone and I'm one of those people you can't protect no matter how much you try. I'm _your_ protectorate; he's got to touch me."

"We can kill him before he has a chance," He said, a faint note of desperation in his tone that made me glance up at him.

"It's not that easy Harry." I was holding something back from him, something that I should have told him but didn't. I was just like my grandfather—I didn't think he was ready to hear that someone else _had_ to die for him.

As long as I was alive Voldemort couldn't kill Harry, but Harry couldn't kill Voldemort either.

The end of my journey, of my eighteen years of living would be coming to a close as Harry vanquished the most feared dark wizard of our time.

I would die before I saw my life through.

I took a deep, steadying breath as I realized I had been pressing my hand to my mouth to stop me from crying out. My eyes burned slightly as I blinked them to stop tears from forming. "We should probably figure out what of Ravenclaw's Voldemort would have used."

He stood still for a long moment, carefully watching me through his glasses, but he eventually nodded and made his way back to the tent.

I stayed behind and sighed. _What am I getting myself into? I shouldn't even feel this. I can't let my feelings come in the way of my duty—his life is at stake Lizzie!_ I yelled at myself. My insides were torn in two. On one hand, a small part of my heart wanted to stay with Harry, to be with him forever. Somehow I couldn't shut down that part either—it was a growing feeling, but I wished it would be snuffed out. I didn't want to admit it, but I cared about Harry a lot more than I should have.

And yet the larger part of my heart knew that I had to protect him with everything I had. But I also had to die; I had to give the world a chance to live without Voldemort's ever growing sense of threat. But I also knew if I died for Harry to complete what he was meant to do, I would lose everything and I would hurt Harry far more than I intended to.

I was getting too close to him, but I couldn't stop myself.

I cared too much.

Suddenly, Harry was at my side and sliding his hand into mine.

I started and my head swiveled around to face his.

"Are you coming?" He asked quietly. "I've been watching you for the last five minutes—it looked like the entire world was on your shoulders."

"You have no idea," I replied with a faint note of irony and a small smile that crept across my lips was immediately flattened as I said, "You have absolutely no idea what I have to contend with here Harry. I have to protect you, protect the world from Voldemort…its harder than you know."

"And what's my job, a walk in the park?" He retorted.

"That's not what I meant."

"What aren't you telling me Lizzie? There's something else besides the fact that you are Dumbledore's granddaughter, something else besides you have to protect me. What is it?"

As he watched me through blazing eyes, I suddenly felt the heat rise up through my neck and into my face. I dropped my own eyes, unable to maintain the eye contact and quickly shook my head. "I can't tell you." It wasn't lying, but it wasn't telling the truth either.

"Why not?"

"Because it would interfere with what we have to do. If I told you, Voldemort would live on regardless of how much we tried. I just can't tell you," I said slowly, feeling the tears burn at the back of my throat. The larger part of my heart was winning—I was choosing duty over love and the small part of my heart burned horribly as I told him this.

He remained silent for a long time, lightly touching my cheek comfortingly. "I told you that Voldemort would die regardless Lizzie," He whispered after awhile. "I'm in this until he's gone."

"But you aren't cold-hearted Harry. You aren't like Voldemort," I told him quietly, feeling the tears sting my eyes.

"Which is why I have a chance; I have things he doesn't and that's what matters."

"But you have things that can get in your way. If Voldemort threatened one of our lives you would immediately cease to his demands. You couldn't bear to lose us Harry and that's what kills me."

"I'm not going to let my friends die Lizzie! I swore to myself I wouldn't let anybody else die for me—I'm through doing it! My parents, Sirius, Dumbledore, everyone I've cared about has died because of protecting me! I'm through doing that!"

"Then Voldemort will never cease to exist." I closed my eyes in defeat and pulled my hand out of his. "Because someone has to die in this Harry and you have to let that person die regardless." I opened my eyes and looked into his. "It has to happen if you want to save the world."

"I'm not going to let anyone else die for me. If the world has to suffer for it, so be it."

"Think of what you're saying Harry! You would risk millions of people for your own personal needs? Stop being selfish!"

"I'm not being selfish, I don't want you or Hermione or Ron to die! I don't want the people that care about me to die! I will do everything I can to make sure you don't!" He shouted at me.

I looked away from him and shook my head. "Then we will all suffer for your mistake." I said quietly and walked away.

I walked along the path of trees for a long time. I had no idea where I was, only that it was far from camp. I wasn't walking away from what I had to do…just Harry. I walked away from what I feared—from what I knew Harry would do if he knew I had to die for him to save the world.

And there was no changing that either.

All I wished was that he would be able to understand, that he would be able to forgive me for not telling him. I just hoped that he would still remember me after I was gone; because I knew regardless of where I was I would always remember him. He left his mark on me and that was never going away.

I knew I was getting in too deep with him, but I couldn't pull myself back now. It was too late. I just had to do my duty without Harry finding out about it beforehand. We had to save the world after all and I knew Harry could do it, as long as I was out of the way.

As long as I was dead…_I'm so sorry Harry…I'm so sorry._

I walked through the brambles on the outer edge of the meadow we were camping in. The second I pushed through them a pair of arms encircled me. "Hermione?" I coughed out, seeing the head of bushy brown hair in front of me.

"Don't do that Lizzie! You scared us half to death! We thought you died!" She cried frantically, squeezing me even tighter.

"Hermione relax, I'm still alive." I patted the top of her head awkwardly as she pulled away. "What's wrong?" I asked immediately when I saw her face.

"Harry…he's not doing so well…he told us what you said about someone having to die and it scared him badly. He's worrying about too many people Lizzie…I just don't know." She looked like she was on the verge of tears and I hugged her.

"I know Hermione, I know." I sighed heavily. "We're all suffering. I'm so sorry."

"Don't be; you saved us all. As much as Ron hates to admit it, you brought Harry back."

"What?" I stepped away from her. "What did you say?"

"Before you came Harry was dead, soulless, hollow…then you show up and he's actually piecing himself back together because of you." She smiled weakly. "Without you we would have been lost."

A sudden wave of emotion crashed on me as I felt myself go weak with sadness. I couldn't bring these people into Voldemort's hell hole—I couldn't even bring Harry in with me. I smiled at her, tears welling up. "I'm…I'm happy you think that Hermione."

Smiling, she said, "I know."

I wanted to say so much more, but I couldn't find the words as I pressed a hand against my mouth to keep me from crying out. I had been willingly accepted in a time where darkness was on every doorstep. I truly felt like I had a family with these three. I felt…loved, and it killed me that I knew what was coming. It killed me that I knew I had to take myself from these people when they were so grateful for everything I had done for them. I had to leave them forever, but they wanted me to stay.

But my destiny was elsewhere and I couldn't bring myself to tell them, no matter how hard I tried.

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I know I've been a bad person, but reviews would be lovely : I promise to try and update soon--but be aware that I'm getting to the end of all I have written and the updates may take even longer after that.

Hopefully I'll be really good and get the next one or two chapters up shortly (and begin to really work out the rest of the story).

Review!


	17. Promises Meant are Promises Kept

Hey guys : WOW I actually updated with five days in between--FIVE! Haha I'm just a little proud with myself, if you'll excuse me. Well we are getting closer to the end, just to forewarn you guys.

Updates: I'm planning on attaching a soundtrack list at the end of this story so look forward to that. I was also wondering if there's anyone skilled with making movies/trailers stuff on Youtube. I think it would be really cool if someone made a trailer for this fanfiction, but that's just my thought. If you want to do something for it let me know, seeing as I don't have a moviemaker program or a Youtube account.

**Disclaimer**: Yada, yada I think you know.

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Chapter Seventeen: Promises Meant are Promises Kept

_It__ was late afternoon and I sat alone in the tent_. Hermione had made me a cup of tea, seeing that I clearly looked distraught. She badgered me for awhile, but my stubbornness frustrated her and she decided to leave in a less than pleasant mood. Obviously she also tried to enlist the help of Ron, but he wouldn't dare cross me when I was so withdrawn like this.

Harry, however, did not attempt to draw conversation from me once. He sat opposite me for a long while after Hermione left, continually staring at me through his glasses with a worried expression on his face.

I slowly drank my tea, ignoring his presence completely. My thoughts were too contained on one subject and I couldn't think of anything else. It scared me, how withdrawn I was. I didn't think that I would go this far into myself for a simple thing such as this…but it really wasn't that simple. This was the worst decision I had ever been faced with in my eighteen years of living.

In all truth, it was a living hell facing these three people and knowing I'd have to hurt them one day soon.

"LIZZIE!" Harry shouted at me suddenly, jarring me from my ever present thoughts.

My head jerked up to look at him. I saw he was gripping the edge of the table so hard that his knuckles were turning white. I opened my mouth to speak, but he started talking before I was even able to utter a word.

"What in the hell do you think you're doing? We're on the last leg of our journey and this is when we need you the most!"

I shrunk back from his stinging words. I knew he was right, however. They needed me here and now, but I couldn't bring myself to do that just yet.

"We need you now Lizzie. You can't keep doing this—please talk to me. Ever since early this morning you've been silent and it's killing us!"

"Harry," I finally broke in, but my voice surprised me. It was oddly weak and it cracked badly. Not only that, but my entire body seemed to be lacking in energy, I even felt the heaviness behind my eyes as I tried to keep my eyes focused on the boy sitting across from me.

He stopped, frozen for a second, shocked that I had uttered a word. When it was clear I wanted to continue, he closed his half-opened mouth with a snap and stared at me intensely.

"Harry, I'm sorry for this," I whispered, feeling the pain sinking in again. "I just…there's a lot more to my story than I'm willing to tell." My voice cracked unsuspectingly again, and I paused to control my feelings. "You must understand that it isn't because I don't trust you, it's just that it's too painful for me to tell…it's…its painful to hear too." I stopped for a long moment as I felt tears beginning to sting the back of my eyes. "I am so thankful that I have met all of you…I've never felt more loved, more open and…safe than I do now and…well I can't tell you the rest of my story because I could hurt the people that I love most in the world and I refuse to do that."

"Lizzie, you have to tell us. We don't want you to struggle with this forever—in fact we hate you struggling with it right now. We want to know, we want to help. We love you."

"I know Harry…" I bit my lip and my gaze drifted to the tabletop. "But that's precisely why I can't tell you. You love me too much," I told him, feeling my heart throb slightly.

"But you should be able to trust us with anything Lizzie. We're in this together."

I sighed as the ache in my heart continued to grow. "Harry, I can't," I looked up at him, meeting his blazing eyes with mine. "I couldn't bear to put you in pain."

"Lizzie—"

But before he finished I stood up and fled from the tent, letting my chest finally rip open and the pain to consume me as I brushed past Ron and Hermione who stood stock-still and watched me sprint into the woods. I ran hard and fast as I tried to escape the pain that was tearing at me, bit by bit, eating me up. Absolute hell engulfed me before I even reached the trees around the meadow. I started sobbing horribly, not caring if Hermione or Ron heard me, not caring if they started following me.

It wasn't just this that came down upon me, but the walls I had built around my emotions so long ago started coming down—and not easily. A sledgehammer was smashing through them with all force and I couldn't escape it. The torrent of emotions from my past burst forth like water bursts from a dam. They drowned me as I struggled to keep running.

I finally slowed, but did not stop. I was more than two miles from camp when I started walking. Eventually, the walking turned into dragging myself across the dead leaves and branches and soon the dragging turned into me crumbling to the floor, bringing my knees to my chest as I sobbed so hard I could have passed out.

And I eventually did pass out, not having a clue where I was or what was happening. All I knew was that I had left who I was supposed to protect and I berated myself for it, but soon the anger was lost as my vision suddenly clouded over and I lost all consciousness.

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The sounds of feet crunching through the underbrush finally woke me from my coma. I jerked awake and yanked out my wand, only to find that I was incapable of sitting up straight for more than a moment without a searing pain spreading across my forehead. I gasped out and my head fell back against the wet earth below me.

When I looked up into the sky I realized it was pitch black outside, which made me wonder, _How long have I been laying here?_

"Lizzie!" Someone screamed frantically. I didn't register who, all I could tell was it was a female's worried voice.

"LIZZIE!" A deeper voice called out into the darkness.

"Lizzie where are you?!" Another male voice cut through the night.

I groaned, but couldn't speak. I didn't want to either in case it was Voldemort or the Death Eaters. I tried to stay completely still, but couldn't as I was shivering from the too-cool night air. Something was wrong with me; I felt ill and groggy and my mind felt like it had been thoroughly picked through, but not cared for.

_DAMN IT!_ I thought suddenly and jolted forward, gasping for air as the pain racked across my forehead again. Cursing again, I stood up as quickly as possible and made my way to the voices who were still trying to find me. I didn't care about the pain, the sickness, the dread, all that I focused on was getting Harry, Hermione and Ron to safety—that's all that mattered.

"Hermione!" Someone hissed, and the three fell silent as I grew near.

I burst through some bushes nearby, gasping horribly. "_Run!_" I croaked out. "_RUN!_"

Three beams of light fell on me and an earth-shattering scream was heard and a pair of arms encircled me.

"NO!" I shouted at them. "GO!"

"Lizzie what's wrong?" Hermione demanded, coming up next to Harry, who had been the one to engulf me in a huge hug.

"Voldemort—Occlumency—RUN!" I managed to choke out.

The only one to understand was Harry and he immediately dropped his arms and grabbed my hand. "You heard her—MOVE!"

"What?!" Ron spluttered as he was shoved forward by Harry.

"Where do we go?!" Hermione said breathlessly as we started running.

"Far—far—away!" I spat in a strangled voice. The pain in my head was less urgent, but I began feeling the pain in the rest of my body—specifically my heart, and somehow I knew that this pain would never go away.

"HURRY!" Harry shouted loudly, making himself heard for the both of us.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no!" Hermione was hissing under her breath as she cut apart branches that stood in our way with a slicing spell.

Ron's face was set, pale and stricken as if he had finally realized what this entire mission was about. He looked fiercer than I had ever seen him, and yet at the same time he looked more frightened too.

Harry's face betrayed no emotion and I was not even able to tell what he was thinking when I looked into his eyes. His body was rigid however, tensed and ready to spring if the chance arose. He knew, as did I, that if Voldemort found us before we had a chance to find the last Horcrux everything would be at a loss.

As soon as I finished examining all of their faces, I set my own, keeping it cool, calm and composed as we sprinted through the trees. I ignored the jabbing pains in my body and forced myself to put up walls around my heart again. As I was doing that, I kept reinforcing the walls around my thoughts, keeping them contained as much as I could. I hated myself for letting Voldemort in through my weaknesses. I put the lives of so many others at risk with this and I would kill myself before he had a chance to kill the three people who meant the most to me right now. I couldn't let him harm them for my mistake—for the loss of control with my emotions. Losing control like that was something I had feared since the time my parents died and I was disgusted with myself for letting them go now, when it mattered most.

Suddenly I felt a pressure on my left hand. It startled me and I let out a small gasp before looking over at Harry and realizing he was still holding my hand. He smiled slightly, but it was in a pained sort of way. I smiled back, but I knew that smile wouldn't be much better than Harry's.

"The camp!" Hermione suddenly shouted. I could hear the relief in her voice. She darted forward and started flicking her wand furiously.

I slipped my hand out of Harry's and dashed after her, flicking my own wand as furiously as I could. "Hurry!" I cried to Hermione and glanced back at Ron and Harry who were doing their best to manage the tent. I looked up in the sky and noticed it was getting lighter—dawn was approaching and I had a funny notion that Voldemort was too.

"There!" Harry cried out in relief as he finally managed to get the tent back into his magical bag.

"HANDS!" I shouted as I finished taking away the last enchantment and Hermione cleared the last of our presence.

In an instant Harry, Ron and Hermione were at my sides, packs strapped onto their backs and entwining their hands together. I grabbed Harry's and Ron's and did my best to Apparate four people to the place that was hidden, as my grandfather had once said.

Suddenly, something stopped me in my tracks as I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. I cursed loudly enough for the rest of them to look at me—obviously they could not sense Voldemort's presence yet.

A second later Harry was swearing as loudly as he could, looking at me with pained eyes. "I'm not letting anyone else die for me," He told me quickly and quietly.

"What's going on?!" Hermione cried frantically.

Ron watched the exchange, his face growing paler than ever.

"Harry, take them to the place that is hidden. That's all you need to say, know and remember. Think long and hard, I know you can do that," I instructed him quickly as I felt goose bumps rising on my flesh.

"I'm not leaving you!"

"GO!" I screamed at him. "We aren't going to all be able to get out of this!" I was begging him to leave for his own safety, yet he was throwing it back in my face. "God damn it Harry, GO!"

He looked at me with panicked eyes, shaking his head furiously. "I told you, I will not let anyone else die for me."

"I'm not going to die! Just go!" I implored him, taking my wand out to show him I was serious in staying.

"You can't defeat him!"

"I can try! Give me a chance Harry—I'll come as soon as I can." I looked at him, begging him silently to think of Ron and Hermione's safety. "God damn it Harry, please," I whispered. "You have to go on even if I can't! I swore to my grandfather that I'd protect you when the time came—well it has now! Leave!"

He looked at me for a second more before nodding. "Just promise me you'll come back; promise me you'll be ok."

I couldn't promise him that—there was no way on earth I could. I knew that I could very likely meet my death here and leave them forever. But to make him leave, I nodded my head solemnly. "I promise Harry—I'll come back."

His eyes bored into mine, searching frantically for some sign of a lie, but I was too good at lying for him to detect it. He nodded and leaned forward, kissing me hard on the lips. "Please be careful," He whispered when he pulled away.

I stared at him, shocked, but came to a second later and nodded fiercely. "I will," I had to, he needed me; just because I knew that it was highly unlikely that I would return to him didn't mean I had to give up entirely. I was going to give Voldemort one hell of a ride if he intended to kill me.

"The place where it is hidden!" Harry declared aloud as he, Ron and Hermione suddenly disappeared from view with a faint pop.

"You're a very good liar you know, almost as good as me," A cold voice, calling me to my death said from behind me.

I fought for control of my breathing as I felt it escape from me in gasps. I looked down at the floor, not willing to turn around just yet. My grip on my wand tightened considerably as I realized what I must do and what could very well mean the end of my life.

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Again, thanks to my reviewers, readers etc. You make this story possible :

And let me know if you want to make a trailer for it--I'd appreciate it!

Reviews?

-Aprylle :


	18. The End is Just Beginning

Hey guys, back again! This is Chapter 18, obviously, and I am going to apologize for the long-ish wait. Although, I am making up for it by putting in an extra long chapter. Anyways, for the reference, the next few chapters are going to be very similar to JK Rowling's final chapters in _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows_, but there are minor differences here and there. I do not, in any way, shape or form, mean to take credit for her ideas, but they were just so well-thought out and put together that I knew I had to put them in here.

I'm currently writing Chapter 20, and I'm assuming another two or three chapters after that, followed by an Epilogue. So we are getting to the end, which is quite shocking actually. But I will stop rambling and let you get to reading this chapter. Have a blast and don't forget to review!

**Disclaimer:** JK Rowling owns just about everything except Lizzie.

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Chapter Eighteen: The End is Just Beginning

_All __throughout my eighteen years of living I had grown up with the fear that Voldemort had instilled upon the people. _I grew up knowing his name, his presence, his darkness, everything about him. But nothing—_nothing_ prepared me for facing him; I was truly alone and for the first time in my life I was frightened.

I slowly turned to face him, turning my eyes upon the one person who had made my life a living hell from the day I was born. Though he was truly a frightening figure, I kept my calm collectiveness as I faced him.

He watched me carefully through the red slits of his eyes, taking in everything about me. Something about his expression made me realize that Snape had not told him there was still a Dumbledore loose.

And something as simple as that meant I could very well keep my life and continue protecting Harry.

"I don't know you child…" Voldemort declared. "You run with Harry Potter, though I do not know you. Your mind reveals nothing either…you are skilled at Occlumency, though I can not say that anyone has been able to withstand my attempts at breaking into their mind. I am very interested in you."

I kept my jaw set as I stared at Voldemort, feeling the burning hatred in the back of my heart.

"It does not seem you are willing to talk either…" He laughed a short, mirthless laugh that chilled me to the bone. "However, I have ways of torture that will make you talk regardless." He lifted his arm and cried, "_Crucio!_" In that horrible voice of his—

But then something completely unexpected happened. The curse suddenly _disappeared_.

I blinked for a moment, thinking it was a mistake, but there was nothing more than air in front of me. _What the hell just happened?_ I looked over at Voldemort who was staring at the space in front of me blankly, a second later his eyes met mine and I shivered involuntarily.

"My Lord—"

"Be silent Lucius," He snapped impatiently, and then turned his attention back on me. "It seems you are not just some simple child running around with Potter…I'll ask you again, who are you?"

Knowing full well that whatever happened before could be a stroke of luck, I opened my mouth to speak but there was a sudden explosion that caught me off guard and knocked me to the ground. A second later, black, thick smoke filled the air around me and there was a hand on my arm. I jerked away from the hand, but it held me tightly and I saw a face loom in front of me.

Severus Snape was motioning with one hand and warning me to keep quiet.

I stared blankly at him for a long moment before getting up and running with him. I stood a better chance defeating Snape than Voldemort if I had to.

Snape ran ahead, but I stayed on his tail. He kept his wand drawn as we ran through the trees wildly, flinging branches out of our way.

Something was oddly familiar about this scene, but I couldn't place it just yet. It irked me thought and I couldn't get rid of the feeling.

Snape glanced over his shoulder at me and motioned for me to hurry up.

I scowled at him, but sped up nonetheless. I had to get away from Voldemort as fast as possible; it was very likely that Snape had told him who I was.

Suddenly, Snape stopped and I ran into him. He grabbed my arm to keep me from falling to the ground, but I quickly wrenched the arm away from him. He spun around and looked at me with an expression I couldn't place.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Saving you."

"From Voldemort?" I snorted. "Your one of his little minions you filthy cockroach, why should I trust you?"

"Because as far as Death Eaters go I am the only one you can trust. Your grandfather trusted me, so I would think you could too."

"But you killed him!" I cried. "How do you expect me to trust you?"

"I got you away from the Dark Lord, didn't I?"

He got me there. I snapped my jaw shut and glared at him.

"Get out of here as quickly as possible. I can only keep the Dark Lord occupied for so long," He spoke quickly, his eyes glancing left and right for any possible sign of him.

My brow furrowed. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because some people don't deserve to die."

I blinked in shock. _How could the man who killed my grandfather even say that? Certainly Grandpa Albus didn't deserve to die._ "Some people are scum like you," I spat at him.

"Go to wherever you told Potter to go. Don't mention anything about me helping you because I know that Potter can't keep his mind protected worth a damn. Being that you are Dumbledore's granddaughter I assume you are an exceptional Occlumens," He instructed me. "The barriers around my mind are up, so don't even bother trying to break into them."

I stared at him vacantly for a long minute. _Why the hell was he helping me?_ _I would think he would want to kill me to make up for his mistakes._

"What are you doing still standing here? Apparate you fool!" He hissed. "The Dark Lord is on his way."

"You have some explaining to do," I warned him through clenched teeth.

"And I will…some day." For a brief moment there was softness in Snape's eyes. It was strange, because, though I had never known him myself, I got the feeling that Snape's eyes were always cold stones. "Go!"

I nodded and squeezed my eyes shut, willing myself to the place where it is hidden. Before I finally vanished, I cracked open an eye and saw Snape staring at me intently, and then the image of his face was gone and a pop was heard as I vanished.

"LIZZIE!" Harry shouted as soon as I hit the ground roughly. He caught me up in two strong, sure arms and held me to his chest.

I smiled weakly, despite the situation. "I told you I'd make it back."

He said nothing and continued to hold me.

"Harry," I said politely, and he shifted his arms immediately. "I'm fine; I told you I would be."

"It was Voldemort Lizzie; there was no way I could have known if you would have been. I can't believe you got out of there so quickly—and you're not even scratched!"

I averted my gaze, remembering what Snape had told me.

"What happened?" He asked immediately as he saw my eyes shift.

"Nothing, where are Hermione and Ron?" I turned to look around, but Harry caught my arm and spun me around to face him. He was furious.

"What happened Lizzie? What did you see?"

_Oh I just saw the killer of my grandfather and he saved my life._ I thought in my head, but kept my face remarkably calm. "I didn't see any_thing,_" I explained carefully, straining the thing part. "But I didn't make it out of there by myself." I bit my lip and looked at him through worried eyes. If he figured it out, so would Voldemort—he kept tabs on Harry twenty-four-seven.

He narrowed his eyes. "Some_one_?"

I nodded my head, hoping he would get the basic gist of it, but not the full details.

"LIZZIE!" Hermione's relieved, squealing voice broke through the brief silence.

"LIZZIE!" Ron's happy, deeper voice came right after.

Two pairs of arms encircled my roughly and I was in the middle of a Ron-Hermione sandwich. Hermione was crying and Ron looked like he had just heard the best news in his life.

I smiled at the two of them. "I told you I'd be ok guys, why don't you believe me?"

"It's You-Know-Who!" Ron nearly shouted at me. "And you didn't even get a _scratch_!"

Hermione wiped her face and her robe sleeve and looked me over. "Oh my—you didn't!" She looked up and met my eyes. "Something's not right," She said quickly as soon as she looked into them.

_Damn it_. I cursed myself for not covering up my emotions more thoroughly. Either that or Hermione was just extremely intuitive which could be very possible.

A second later she backed up and watched me. "What happened Lizzie?"

I glanced over at Harry and then my eyes rested on Hermione's. I opened my mouth and exhaled slowly before I started speaking. "I can't tell you exactly what happened," I said carefully. "And I can't give you hints otherwise you could figure it out and that would tip-off Voldemort."

Hermione cocked her head slightly and chewed on the inside of her cheek. "What did Voldemort do to you?" She whispered, petrified he had put some sort of curse on me.

"I…nothing actually." I gnawed my lip for a moment, trying to find the right words. "That's the thing…he _couldn't_."

She nearly fell over. "What?!"

"He cast the Cruciatus curse, but it just evaporated in front of me. I don't know what happened exactly, but I didn't do a thing." Suddenly I stiffened. _How does Voldemort not know who I am? He keeps tabs on Harry all the time, yet Harry knows I am Dumbledore's granddaughter. This doesn't make any sense._

"What is it Lizzie?" Harry asked as he watched me carefully.

"Voldemort didn't know who I was…but that doesn't make any sense. How could he not know? He could easily perform—no! You need to maintain eye-contact to perform Legilimency." I looked at Harry with eyes that shone with excitement. "Harry, Voldemort still doesn't know I'm Dumbledore's granddaughter."

"Lizzie what are you talking about?"

"This could mean your life or death, don't you see it? If Voldemort doesn't know, then that means that you're still safe."

A small smile flitted across his mouth for a fraction of a second, but then it disappeared completely and he watched me through his emerald eyes.

I dropped my own and turned around to see a dark shadow stumbling through the wooded area behind us. Instinctively, I stepped between the figure and Harry, and threw my arm out at his chest to prevent him from going forward.

"Luna Lovegood?!" Hermione shouted incredulously as a girl with dirty blonde hair and a quirky sense about her stumbled out of the underbrush. "Oh my goodness!" She dropped her guard and sprinted toward the girl, who looked to be in a worse off state than us.

"Who is she?" I turned on Harry immediately. "How do you know she's this Luna person?" My voice was clipped and dark at the same time.

"Because I would never follow You-Know-Who's orders."

Turning around, I saw Ron and Hermione gasping with shock. Apparently it wasn't usual for Luna to be talking in such a depressed, strangled voice.

"What happened to you Luna?" Harry asked, pushing me out of the way as he strode over to her.

I lingered back, watching the exchange carefully. I never let my eyes wander from Luna for a second, because I still didn't trust her no matter what everyone else said. _Why is she here? Is she under the Imperius Curse perhaps?_ Of course all manner of these thoughts crossed my mind. It was a time of war, I had no other choice.

While the other three took care of Luna, my gaze drifted away from her and up to the trees. I watched them for a long time before she spoke again.

"You-Know-Who came after my dad and me. He came to our house and tried to kill us both, but my dad threw me out before he could kill me."

My head snapped in her direction. "Voldemort is out to kill you?"

All four of their heads turned toward me and Luna's slowly nodded. She was petrified and I figured out why: Voldemort was tracking her, probably figuring she would head toward Harry eventually because they had been friends at one point. He probably had used Legilimency to find these things out, which meant he was on his way.

"Damn it—MOVE!" I shouted at them. "Voldemort's tracking her; we have to get out of here now!" I ran over to them and pulled Luna off the ground. "GO!" I shouted in her face.

"I'm sorry—I—I didn't know!" She wailed as the other four stood up.

"What are you talking about Lizzie?" Hermione demanded, pulling Luna away from me.

"You have no idea—damn it Hermione, Voldemort's on his way—"

"Actually, he's here already."

I froze and stared at Harry. Swallowing, I pointed my wand in the direction Voldemort's voice had come from. "Harry, you need to get out of here as fast as possible. Take everyone with you—I'll handle him alone."

"Lizzie are you crazy?! You can't defeat him twice!"

"JUST GO!" It was already too late, I would be killed and I knew it, but I didn't need to let Harry know. "I have to do this alone."

Voldemort stepped out of the shadows of trees in front of us and his crimson eyes pierced me before I even had time to block my mind securely enough.

"UGH!" I cried out in pain as he forced his way through my walls. I dropped to the ground, my wand skittered away from me. "RUN HARRY!" I screamed, half in pain, half in desperation.

"STOP IT!" Harry shouted at Voldemort. "I'M THE ONE YOU WANT!" He attempted to cast a spell, but Voldemort merely knocked him off his feet with a single spell.

"But this girl is thwarting my ever attempts at getting to you Harry Potter, and I want to know why," He said in a deadly cold voice.

"NO YOU WON'T!" I yelled at him and forced him out of my mind, just as he reached the information I buried deeply inside of me. "GET OUT!" I screamed again and stood up, forcing him back with all my might. I roared as loudly as I could and slammed the walls defending my mind into his, making him stumble backwards.

"Very interesting," He whispered softly.

My wand zoomed into my hand when I called it and pointing it at him I snarled, "You'll regret that Voldemort." I locked eyes with him, despite the fact he was using Legilimency on me. I beat him back furiously and for the first time since Dumbledore's death a power truly collided with his own.

Shocked, the wicked sorcerer stumbled backwards and stared at me with wide, frightened eyes.

I narrowed my own, and my mouth pulled up in a slight smirk.

"It's not possible!" He cried in outrage and turned to the nearest Death Eaters and shouted, "Kill the Mudblood and the red-head!"

That was not expected, but I handled it as though it were. Swiftly, I pointed my wand in the direction of the two Death Eaters who descended upon Hermione and Ron and shouted _"STUPEFY!"_ and they fell limp.

"How are you a match for my power child?" He demanded furiously.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" I sneered and directed my wand toward him again. I was staring death and danger in the eye, but I knew I had my grandfather right beside me whenever I did. I could practically hear his voice encouraging me: _keep going Lizzie, that's a girl. You do this and protect Harry._

The wind shifted slightly, but it was enough for me to feel it. My brow furrowed in confusion as I looked at Voldemort who was drawing back.

"We will meet again child," It was a whisper, but a deadly one only I could hear. Somehow I knew he figured out who I was, yet if he did, why didn't he stay and kill me?

"Where is he going?!" Harry shouted at me. "Go after him Lizzie!"

I spun around and looked at him with wide, confused eyes. "I don't know why he's left, but we should leave." When nobody moved, I shouted, "NOW!"

"Lizzie…" Harry whispered as his head shot upwards.

I followed his gaze and gasped. "Those can't be—Inferi can't fly!" I cursed vehemently and grabbed his wrist. "We need to leave—let's go!"

Hermione screamed when she finally saw what we were talking about. "What are—what are those things?" She cried in an alarmed and disgusted voice.

Ron paled visibly and gulped. "Yeah Lizzie, what are they?"

"Inferi, dead bodies—zombies if you will. They are under Voldemort's command and they won't stop until we're dead. _FLAGRATE!_" I screamed suddenly, making them all jump as a jet of fire burst out of the end of my wand and into the swarming Inferi. "Only fire gets them, but even so we don't stand a chance here."

"But where do we Apparate?"

That idea had not come to me yet. _Crap_.

"I know where Ravenclaw's object is," Someone whispered in a soft, dream-like voice.

I turned around wildly and saw Luna standing there innocently, the corners of her mouth upturned in a slight smile. Instinctively I didn't trust her, but something told me to get over herself and believe her just this once—even if she did bring Voldemort's hell upon us all.

Misconstruing my silence for mistrust, she shook her head and mumbled, "Hermione told me about your quest. Don't worry, I can disguise my mind from You-Know-Who effectively, and I know exactly where that last Horcrux is."

My mouth dropped in surprise. How did a nobody of a girl come to know all these things? I turned my look upon Hermione who shrugged.

The others seemed to agree as Ron said, "It's Luna Lovegood, we've known her for a few years. She was in Dumbledore's Army with us."

I pressed my lips together in a tight line and turned back to Luna. "Very well," I said sharply. "Tell me."

In one word she told me everything I needed to hear, "Hogwarts,"

I felt my eyes widen against my will as I realized what she had said; the home of my grandfather, the very place where the sacred knowledge of magic is learned and I was returning back to it. _Why would Voldemort hide his Horcrux there?_ I wondered privately, and still continued to stare at Luna with wide eyes.

"And I know what you need to do to get in." She shrugged nonchalantly. "And I'm willing to help."

Trusting this girl blindly could be the worst mistake of my life, but I had no doubt that she really did know where Ravenclaw's object was. I also had no doubt in my mind that it was in Hogwarts; something just told me it would be.

But trusting her to lead us in safely…I wasn't sure about. Biting my lip slightly, I nodded. "To Hogwarts," I muttered, hoping to God that this wouldn't be the death of me.

Not here.

Not now.

Once I'm gone there was no way Harry was going to be able to survive on his own. Only by a sheer miracle would he be able to live if I had died, and that part scared me the most.

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Reviews? Opinions/suggestions? It would be excellent.

-Aprylle


	19. To Hogwarts

Alright everyone, this is it. I'm starting the most intense part of the story, and it should be great fun because it goes on for quite a few chapters. I know this is a rather short chapter, but its like an introduction to the fighting and everything else going on in the next few chapters. After this I have two more written, with another two or three to go. I'm terribly excited to be honest with you, I love this story so much.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy it. Please leave reviews, that would be lovely. Also, perhaps I'll update again at the end of this weekend if I feel like you deserve it :) So have fun reading it!

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Chapter Nineteen: To Hogwarts

_Four__ of us stood on a rocky mountain outcropping just west of Hogwarts_. Four of us, teenage kids no older than eighteen stood and knew that inside those once hallowed halls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was the murderer of Albus Dumbledore. We also knew that Death Eater's were stationed in that school and around it night and day.

What three of the four of us didn't know, was that only three would come out of this alive. I had to die somewhere, and I had a strong feeling that it was going to be here. At least I would die by my grandfather's grave.

"Shall we proceed?" Ron asked timidly, gulping slightly as he stared at the now forbidding halls of his old school.

"And risk getting caught by Death Eaters? I think not," Frowning slightly, I crouched on the ground and rested on the balls of my feet. "We have to think of a way to get in without bursting through the front door."

"The Room of Requirement," Hermione suggested faintly as she stared at Hogwarts with a dead look in her eyes. "We're going to need inside help, we can't do this alone."

"I don't want—" Harry began to protest, but I cut over him.

"We can't worry about that anymore Harry. People are going to die here and now, some will be the enemy, others will not. This is war," I set my face and looked up at him. "I know we've been out of it for awhile, but while we were gone a war _has_ been going on and coming back here throws us all back into it."

"Ginny, Neville, Colin, all those people can help us Harry," Hermione agreed softly. "They're all still inside."

"Then we need to get into contact with those people. Does anyone know how to without drawing attention?"

"I have an idea," Ron announced, and after a moment's shock we all turned our attention on him and listened to while he explained his plan.

Unbelievably, Ron's plan was devised out of sheer luck, but it was utterly brilliant. Simple and effective, Ron would call in the rest of the members of the Order of the Phoenix—a group I had never been apart of, but knew all about because of my grandfather—and tell them that the last battle was beginning.

Right here, right now is where we were going to make our last stand. This was it—the do or die moment.

While they distracted the Death Eater patrol at the front gate, Luna, Harry, Hermione and I would make our way into the school through the means of secret passages. It would be a long way around seeing as we had to go through the Whomping Willow to the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmade, the nearby wizarding village, and then hurry over to Honeydukes and get into the cellar, and then take the secret passage back into Hogwarts. It was a long, circular route but it was the safest course we had.

From there, Luna would alert all the previous members of Dumbledore's Army and anyone else who wanted to stand up and fight while Harry, Hermione and I went in search of Rowena Ravenclaw's object.

Luna had explained in exquisite detail what the Horcrux was—Ravenclaw's old diadem, a sort of crown like object. She said that it would be somewhere obvious, yet hidden at the same time. We were going to try Ravenclaw's house first, seeing as that would be obvious, and then work from there.

All in all, it was a good plan, now we just had to set it in motion.

An explosion of fireworks ripped through the woods surrounding Hogwart's heavily protected gates. The four of us stood still as we watched the bright colors illuminate the sky in various shades of color—the work of Ron's brothers Fred and George apparently. Even so, they still drew the attention of all of the Death Eater's on the eastern side of the wall which meant that our way was cleared.

"Go, go!" I hissed and Luna and Hermione immediately fanned out and began running through the woods to find the easiest place to breach the wall.

I stood next to a gigantic oak tree and watched the fireworks display be replaced by the jets of magic and the distinct popping replaced by screams and shouts.

"Are you ready for this?" Harry asked quietly from his place next to me. His eyes were also fixed on the flashes of spells a long ways away from us.

"I should be asking you the same question," I responded as I turned back to the brilliant light. "You're the one that has the entire fate of the world on his shoulders."

"And yet you walk around like it's on yours," He interrupted, but it wasn't coldly; his remark was just that: a remark. "Don't you think its time to let someone else shoulder that weight?"

"When I'm gone you can shoulder the weight," I answered. It was supposed to be a joke, but in a sense it was also very true.

"You're not going anywhere."

"Exactly," I attempted to smile, but my lips wouldn't respond. Suddenly, the trees around us started blowing in strange fashions and I detected a hint of Hermione's spell work amongst them. "She's brilliant," I murmured.

"What?"

"Hermione is communicating through the trees—she's found a way in," I shook my head in disbelief and awe. "Let's go."

"Here we come."

Hermione stood by a broken down section of the Hogwarts' gates and she looked pale and frightened, but ready nonetheless. "I found it—well Luna found it actually," She beckoned for the blonde haired girl to step forward. "But we have to move—I think Voldemort's on his way."

"You're brilliant Hermione," I told her as I passed her. "Communicating through the trees? That's sheer brilliance." I put a leg through the bars and slid the rest of my body through them, not even waiting for Hermione's response. Once I reached the other side I pulled out my wand and let a little gasp exit my mouth.

"What _happened_?" Harry asked haltingly as he stepped through the gate next.

"Voldemort got a hold of the school," I answered automatically, but my voice was shell-shocked. I hadn't expected it to become _this_.

All four of us stood on the grounds of the once-magnificent school of witchcraft and wizardry and found ourselves looking at a dark, twisted and insane version of the school that Harry, Hermione and Luna once knew.

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Reviews please! Look for the new chapter shortly. :) 


	20. What Happens When

Back again! So if I don't update as much...really as much from now until about May its because track has started and my time's being thoroughly consumed by it.

Anyways, more adventure, more action etc in this chapter. Have fun!

**Disclaimer:** Ugh...duh?

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Chapter Twenty: What Happens When…

_Harry,__ Hermione, Luna and I started sprinting across the lawn as fast as we could, but apparently that wasn't even enough._ Within moments, at least five Death Eaters were flying down to the ground, shooting of spells every which way, trying to hit one of us.

I jumped forward just as sizzling bolt of energy brushed past my back and landed heavily on Harry, knocking him to the ground. "S-sorry," I panted in his ear and we both struggled to get up as Luna and Hermione fired spells back at the enemy. I grabbed his hand and Hermione's arm and we all started running across the lawn toward the Whomping Willow.

"Lizzie watch—" Hermione screamed and flew away from me just as a green bolt of light erupted in my ear.

"No!" I shouted at her and reached back over to grab her arm. We couldn't do this by ourselves—we needed her. "_STUPEFY!"_ I screamed over my shoulder, hoping it hit at least one of them.

"The—the Whomping Willow," Luna panted, her dreamy voice replaced by one laced with fear and shock.

"Move!" I yelled, understanding Luna's cries and shoved Harry away from me just as a branch slammed down in between the two of us. Looking up, I saw that the branches were flailing and they didn't look like they were about to be forgiving any time soon.

Hermione ran through them as quickly as she could—cutting down any that got too close and I suddenly realized that she was trying to make it to a sizeable hole in the trunk.

"LUNA!" I shouted at the blonde girl and she ducked just in time as a shot of bluish-green light erupted over her head. "The trunk—the TRUNK!"

Harry stopped firing spells at the Death Eaters and looked back to where Hermione was crawling on the ground, trying to avoid being hit by branches but not succeeding. By the time we were over she would have at least a dozen cuts on her arms and legs.

I twirled my wand and then shouted, "_Petrificous Totalus!"_ at one Death Eater and watched his arms and legs come together in a locked position. _I'm going to need you on this Grandpa Albus—we all are,_ I thought briefly as I watched another Death Eater attempt to take out Luna.

"I GOT IT!" Hermione screeched from her position on the grass and sat up, waving her arms frantically. "Come on—COME ON!"

Without wasting a moment, I ran over to Luna and grabbed her hand and pulled her to me and we both sprinted over to the gaping hole. Harry was already sliding down it, followed by Hermione. I looked at Luna and without a word, shoved her through the dark hole. Glancing behind me I saw two furious Death Eater's sprinting our way. "I don't think so!" I shouted at them and pointed my wand at the ground. _"REDUCTO!"_ Without waiting for the ground to explode in my wake, I jumped headfirst into the hole and slid down a dirt path and into Harry's legs.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked quickly, helping me to my feet.

"No," I muttered and looked at where I thought his head would be. "But I will be when this is all over."

And so we all ran, our wands out in front of us, guiding the way to our destination. The dirt of the passageway had long since been pressed against the floor and sides, but I still managed to get some in my eyes every now and then due to the explosions of spells above us—apparently the Order had finally gotten onto Hogwarts grounds.

Suddenly everything grew very quiet and still, and I realized with a thumping heart that something bad was about to happen. "Stop! Get back!" I shouted at Harry, Hermione and Luna as I started backing up as quickly as possible.

"We're almost there—Lizzie what are you—AGH!"

And all four of us were thrown off our feet and into a dirt wall ten feet back. I looked through the cloud of dirt and a curtain of hair down the pathway we had just been blown off of and saw the ceiling quickly collapsing.

"Come on!" Hermione shouted, undeterred by the explosion as she grabbed Harry and Luna's hands and started pulling them forward toward the dusty cloud. "We can't let it collapse!"

I pushed myself off the ground and started running after them. _Come on, come on, come on!_ I thought over and over in my head, hoping to everything I could that the cave would not collapse. "_Reducto!"_ I shouted, blowing the mounds of dirt in our way back and up into the sky.

"JUMP!" Harry shouted, launching forward and dragging the two girls with him just as the ceiling began collapsing.

Screaming, I jumped after them, but the dirt caught my leg and pulled me down underneath it and soon I was covered in grass and earth. "H—HARRY—HARRY!" I coughed out, still shouting and fighting for a way out.

"Hang on Lizzie!" Hermione shouted back and suddenly I was thrown into the air and caught by my ankles in one swift movement.

Hanging upside down, I saw Hermione's wand at her side and then saw Harry's in the air, slowly moving me toward them. "Nice spell work guys," I said a little sarcastically as I watched them upside down.

"All worth it," Harry replied back as he dropped me to the ground, but offered his hand to help me up.

I smirked and took the hand. "Of course it is."

"Come on guys," Hermione interrupted quickly. "We'd better get moving."

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The Shrieking Shack was far from pleasant, but it certainly did not live up to its name. We entered through the basement of the building, and ran up the creaky wooden stairs and finally reached the front door, all without being captured or seen. For some reason, I believed that the Death Eaters rarely came here due to the myths.

Silly Death Eaters, I thought Voldemort was a whole lot crueler than any ghosts.

Before we even headed into the main portion of Hogsmade, I stopped the other three and looked at each of them seriously, passing on the heaviness of the situation so they would understand exactly what was going on.

"Luna we're going to need you," Hermione said quickly.

"I'm here," She replied with a little more gravity in her voice. "I'll get you to the Ravenclaw common room."

"If we don't find it in there," I started warningly. "We need to split up and search the castle—think of any place you can."

The other three nodded silently.

"Let's go."

"This doesn't feel right…this really doesn't feel right," Hermione muttered from the back of our little troupe of rebels. She was frantic; I could tell that from the way her footsteps echoed off the cavern walls in the passageway. "How do we know that they aren't going to ambush us?"

"Hermione," I said sternly, spinning around so quickly she nearly ran into the end of my wand, which was pointed at her face. "They aren't going to ambush us; most of the Death Eaters are being occupied at the front gates anyways."

"Guys," Harry called back quietly from the front. "We're here."

I stopped talking at once and pushed my way to the front of the line by Harry, who was looking straight up into what was presumably the witch's hump. "_Dissendium,"_ I murmured as quietly as possible, and saw the sealed hump shift slightly that let in a tiny shaft of light. I tucked my wand away and pushed up on the top of the witch's statue and pushed the hatch open a little further so that it was wide enough to accustom our bodies.

"Lizzie—"

"I'm going first," I interrupted shortly, not wanting to get into an argument right now. I put my hands on either side of the opening and hefted myself up easily. My head broke the opening and I looked around, quickly scanning the area. Quickly, I pulled myself all the way out and rolled onto the cold, stone floor of Hogwarts, whipping out my wand at the same time. "All clear," I muttered and watched Harry's jet black head pop up.

"You could have been—"

"We all face that chance from now on Harry, get used to it."

Luna's blonde head came through next, followed by Hermione's bushy one and within moments we had all successfully come out of the passageway unscathed. Momentarily at least.

"Luna I need you," I said quickly. "Where is the Horcrux?"

"I'm pretty sure it's in Ravenclaw's common room—come on," She replied in a voice that had suddenly lost its dreaminess and had been replaced by all solemnity and seriousness. "This way." And then, we were running through the deserted halls of the hallowed school, or at least they were deserted until we reached what seemed to be a main hallway.

"Back up! Please back up and get to your dormitories immediately!" A teacher called out in a harried and commanding manner.

Instantly, I grabbed Luna's arm and pulled her back against the wall. "Why are we going this way?" I demanded angrily. "We can't run into these people!"

"Where's the Ravenclaw dormitory Luna?" Hermione asked, breathing nervously as she listened to the sounds of students heading our way.

"The Western Tower."

"I know another way there," Harry informed us quickly and again, we were running through the halls trying as hard as we could to outrun the students pouring up the hallway. "Come on! Come on!"

I glanced behind us and saw someone coming around the corner, but turned back around and pushed Luna in front of me as we all ran at a frantic pace. "Go, go!"

"Stop!" Hermione cried suddenly and we all ran into her. She had her wand arm outstretched and pointing at someone who we couldn't make out clearly.

"We have no time for this!" I cried out. "Hermione!"

"Hermione?!" The voice asked incredulously and suddenly the person stepped forward, revealing an eager looking boy with a camera strapped around his neck. "Harry? Where have you guys been?"

"Collin!" Harry called out in relief, then grabbed him by the scruff of his sweater and pulled him into the wall. "What are you doing here?"

"I want to help—"

"Get with the other students—GO!" Hermione ordered fiercely. "We don't have time to explain—we're sorry Collin, we have to go!"

"They're coming," I said, looking back and hearing the noise of students getting louder. "Come on!" And without even telling the boy where we were going, the four of us ran off again and suddenly Harry was leading us into a side passageway where all noise fell away.

"This will bring us right out to the base of the Western Tower, you can get us to Ravenclaw tower from there, right?"

"I can."

Swiftly, Harry moved aside a long tapestry and we were all out in a brightly lit corridor, and then Luna took the lead. She led us up many staircases, each growing narrower as we moved further up the Western Tower, and suddenly she slowed.

Panting, I asked, "What's wrong?"

"We should split up," She announced warily.

"Why?" I demanded, tightening the grip on my wand. "What's going on?"

"What if it's not in Ravenclaw Tower? What if we waste our time in there?" She fired back, her eyes suddenly blazing with anger. "Take Harry and search the castle—I'll take Hermione to Ravenclaw Tower."

"No, I'll go to Ravenclaw Tower with you," I said quickly. At this moment I didn't trust either Harry or Hermione with her and I was sure to let her know. "Go!" I shouted and Luna started running again. "You know what to do," I called back to Harry and Hermione. "Find it and destroy it!"

"Be careful," Harry called up to me as he and Hermione began running.

"Watch yourself!"

Not too long later, Luna and I reached a tightly spiraled winding staircase and we began leaping the stairs two at a time, hoping that we would be able to get to the common room fast enough. After what seemed to be more than one-hundred stairs, we reached a large trap door like passage that had a bronze knocker adorned with an eagle and that was it.

"Luna?" I asked worriedly, my breath heavy with fatigue.

"It asks you a question," She responded in a similar manner. "But I don't know why it's not saying anything."

"We have to get into that common room," I said as I began backing down from the door. I pointed my wand at the brass knocker, but suddenly the eagle's eyes blinked and focused on me. "Luna?"

"I sense a mixture of all houses in you, yet you are not from Hogwarts," The bronze eagle said slowly.

"I'm not interfering," Luna said quietly and stepped away from the entrance.

"No…" I said hesitantly, glancing back at the blonde haired girl who urged me on. "I'm from somewhere else."

"You think that I possess all the knowledge in the world, but I'm not the Sorting Hat my dear girl," The eagle said with a hint of rumbling laughter. "Do not be afraid."

"I'm not."

"Not of me, but you fear for everyone else…everyone but yourself," Before I had a chance to argue, the eagle continued. "So my question is this: when the time comes, how will you let him know?"

Blinking in shock, I had to take a moment to register the eagle's question, and suddenly I realized he was talking about me dying for Harry…and how I would tell Harry. "I…" I began quietly, looking only at the bronze eagle in front of me. "Some things are better left unsaid."

"Hmm," He replied in a pondering tone. "An interesting answer for a difficult question, but I trust that when the time comes you will make the right decision. You may pass." Slowly, the trap door opened and a silvery ladder descended.

Without another word, I climbed up the ladder quickly and tried to push the thoughts of Harry out of my mind. "Alright Luna," I said as she climbed up after me. "What are we looking for?" I looked about the circular, comfortable looking room. Everything was draped in blue, from the couches to the drapery, and in front of me stood a large bronze statue with a beautiful woman on it. Along the far wall stood two curving staircases that most likely led to the dormitories; books also lined the walls, a nice touch in a Ravenclaw's common room.

"The diadem…it looks like that," Luna said, interrupting my cursory glance of the room as she pointed at the statue in the middle of the room. "That's Rowena Ravenclaw, one of the Founder's Four. See that circlet on her head?"

I nodded and looked at the bronze statue again.

"That's Ravenclaw's Diadem and it's said that whoever wears it will possess all the knowledge in the world."

"Fitting," I muttered as I quickly walked over the statue. "Where do you think it would be in here?"

"To be honest, I'm not sure."

Frowning and biting my lip, I circled the statue and my eyes found runes carved into the bottom. "Do you know what this says?" I asked quickly, crouching down and letting my fingers run over the runes.

"I'm assuming it says something along the lines of Ravenclaw's motto—"

"No it doesn't," I interrupted quickly as words began to form in my head. "We're in the wrong place." I realized and cursed under my breath. "Luna we're in the wrong place—the diadem isn't in here." I looked up at the windows that lined the walls along the top of the circular room, and then my gaze traveled back to the diadem atop of Ravenclaw's head.

"What are you…" But she suddenly faded off and shook her head. "Ravenclaw would have expected—"

"No, it's not Ravenclaw's doing, its Voldemort's," I snarled angrily and stood back up. "Luna, this is a trap."

"Wha—" But before the words even escaped her lips, the upper windows were blown in and they immediately showered us with glass.

"Get down!" I ordered savagely, my battle instinct taking over. I covered my head with my arms, protecting my head from most of the damage, but I still sustained some heavy cuts which bled profusely. Glass also managed to get stuck in my outfit, which only scratched my body even more, but I managed to ignore it despite the fact that my clothes were beginning to become stained with blood.

Luna screamed as a furious wind suddenly whipped into the common room, throwing everything into the air and sending it slamming back down over and over again. She crawled over to the statue, clinging onto it for dear life as she watched me through wide eyes.

I tried my hardest to control the wind, but it just wouldn't happen, and suddenly the glass was being whipped back into the air again, scratching both Luna and I even more. I looked up to the windows once more and noticed several distinct black forms begin to pour in through them and one thought ran through my head, _Death Eaters._ Snarling angrily, I spun around and grabbed Luna by the scruff of her robes and yanked her to her feet.

She fumbled in her robes for her wand, but I threw her forward toward the trap door of the common room and she lost her balance.

"Get up!" I ordered angrily, and grabbed her arm, yanking her up again. "Get out of here—GO!" I yelled at her and watched her stumble forward toward the trap door. Running after her, I glanced back and saw more black shapes take form. Cursing angrily, I watched her pull the door open and jump down the silvery stepladder, but before her blonde head whipped out of sight I heard a scream.

"Lizzie!"

"NO!" I cried and jumped down after her, but unfortunately I jumped right into the arms of an expectant Death Eater who looked as though Christmas had just come early. Screaming and fighting, I managed to bite his hand which caused him to drop me roughly onto the ground. Ignoring the stabbing pain of the glass shards still stuck in my outfit, I swung around and kicked the Death Eater's legs out from under him as I cast the Body-Binding spell silently, and then swung around and kicked Luna's Death Eater's kneecaps out.

Luna yanked out her wand and managed to light the Death Eater's robes on fire as I pulled her to her feet and we started running down the spiral staircase as quickly as we could manage.

"We need to find Harry and Hermione immediately," I told her breathlessly as we finally reached the last spiral, but then I forgot about the students who were coming our way. I skidded to a halt and saw hundreds of terrified and shocked eyes looking up at Luna and I, and realized that we were bloodied up pretty badly.

"Ravenclaws," Luna said suddenly. "Now's the time to show our courage like the proud Gryffindors; now is the time to stand up if that's what you want to do. If you want Voldemort gone, go and fight his Death Eaters in the common room right now, and then you can say you have a part in his downfall."

And after a shocked silence, people began clapping and cheering furiously. Many began pulling out wands and suddenly nearly all one-hundred of them started pouring around us, eager to take down the Death Eaters.

Praying to Merlin furiously, I hoped that sheer numbers was enough to take down the Death Eaters in the Ravenclaw common room; I didn't want any innocent blood on my hands.

"Are you coming or not?" Luna asked from some far away distance.

I looked over at her and nodded. "That was…incredible."

"It's a once and a lifetime thing," She muttered nonchalantly, and at once we began sprinting down the hall in search of Harry and Hermione.

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Reviews? To leave some would be awesome:) 


	21. Everything or Nothing

I know, I know, shoot me if you must and I won't argue. I've been really bad with udpates since track season started, but hopefully this'll make you forgive me :)I don't have chapter twenty-two written up yet, so the next updates going to take even longer...but the end is in sight. 

So while you must wait, here is another action-packed chapter in the adventures of Harry and Lizzie, wh-hoo!

**Disclaimer:** Already been over this...

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Chapter Twenty-One: Everything or Nothing

_It __seemed as though ages had passed since Luna and I had been attacked in Ravenclaw common room. _Not long after the attack and Luna's amazing pep talk to the rest of the Ravenclaw's, we ran into Harry and Hermione, who were running for their lives from a miniature Death Eater named Draco Malfoy. I remember thinking that he looked similar to his father, but he had a long way to go before he became that cold. I could also tell that this life was not what he had signed up for, and I tried to help him, but all I succeeded in doing was making him even angrier than before. 

After I managed to freeze Malfoy, the four of us ran off in search of the diadem, which Harry realized he knew where it was. Apparently, a year or two ago he ran across this room which hide several objects that needed to be hidden, and it was once where he hid a potions textbook. He said he knew exactly where the diadem was, all we needed to do was go and destroy it.

"Harry," I asked breathlessly as we stopped in front of a blank stretch of wall. "Where is the room?" Looking left and right, my glance revealed nothing and I began to worry.

"Its here," He said back, running his fingers along the wall. "It's the Room of Requirement Lizzie, its going to be here." 

"Harry," Hermione said nervously. "We don't have enough time." She looked down the hallway where sounds of battle could be heard. Apparently the fight for Hogwarts had spread into the castle itself, which unfortunately involved many innocent lives that didn't need to be involved. 

"I know Hermione!" He snapped back and squeezed his eyes shut. "I'm trying…I need to find the place where it's hidden…the place where it's hidden…the place where it's hidden—"

"Harry!" I cried suddenly as I saw a door appear in the stone wall. Mouth hanging open, I stared at it, but then I snapped back to attention when I heard a high-pitched scream echo off the walls. 

"Harry you can't!" Hermione cried out. "You have to find it—take Lizzie, Luna and I will go and help them alright?" She looked at him with pleading eyes and threw her arms around him. "Please be careful," She whispered tearfully. When she pulled away, she threw her arms around me. "Take care of him."

I squeezed her back and nodded. "I promise." 

And with a slight nod from Luna, the two girls were gone. 

"Together," I said quietly as my hand touched the doorknob. Quickly, I opened the heavy oaken door and a musty draft wafted our way, nearly blowing us over with its power. I coughed and spluttered for a second, but regained my composure as both of us walked inside with our wands drawn. _"Lumos Maximus,"_ I muttered quietly and my wand-tip ignited, throwing bright flames of light onto what was next to me. 

"Fan out," Harry ordered, obviously unperturbed by the massiveness of this room. "You know what it looks like right?"

"Yeah…but have you seen—"

"We don't have time Lizzie." 

I nodded shortly, and without further ado the two of us were off in different directions looking for the diadem of knowledge. 

The search was long and tiring, and I don't even remember looking through so much junk. Unfortunately, try as I might, I wasn't able to find the blasted Horcrux and I was beginning to feel hopeless. And that's when I heard the first loud bang, followed by the crackling of an ignited fire. My heart must have skipped three beats as I spun around wildly and strained my eyes to see down the long, narrow and dark path I just walked up. And then came a handful of shouts, followed by another loud bang and I saw something flare up in the distance. 

"_AGUAMENTI!"_ Someone shouted in distinct male voice. 

"HARRY!" I yelled frantically; just because Voldemort couldn't touch him yet didn't mean he was immune to other people's attacks. "Harry where are you!" I started running back down the path I had come and suddenly something exploded over my head, littering me with charred pieces of debris as I fell forward from the shock of the blast. 

"LIZZIE!" He shouted back, his voice cutting through the roaring flames around me. "Lizzie where are you!" 

I cursed loudly as I realized I was on fire. _"AGUAMENTI!" _I shrieked in terror, and struggled to push the debris off me. "No, no, NO!" I cried angrily and tried twisting to get out of my predicament, but nothing worked. Feeling furious tears stinging my eyes, I beat the ground with my fist and tried to crawl out, but to no avail; I was stuck. 

"_REDUCTO!"_ Someone shouted in a voice I didn't recognize and before I could even comprehend anything, I was blown backwards with the rest of the debris and into a wall of solid material. 

I groaned in pain and slid down the wall, not even caring that a Death Eater was probably standing over me. Suddenly, everything snapped into place and despite my aching body, I jerked forward and saw someone with a pale-blonde head running away from me. _Malfoy?_ I thought incredulously. _Maybe he is really good after all…_ But before I had time to finish that train of thought something else hit me like a ton of bricks and all the breath was shoved out of my longs. 

"Take that you foul girl!" 

"I don't think so," I groaned back and pointed my wand at the Death Eater and shouted, _"STUPEFY!"_ and without warning, the unsuspecting Death Eater was blown backwards and into a wall of trash that dumped on him as soon as he hit the unstable structure. 

"_Accio _Ravenclaw's diadem!" A voice cut through the air, and I suddenly realized it was Harry's. 

"HARRY!" I shouted loudly and pushed myself off the ground, which drew a staggering amount of energy from me, but I didn't care, I had to get to him. "HARRY!" 

"Lizzie!" Someone else shouted, and when I looked to my left I saw a flash of red. "Lizzie take this to Harry—hurry!" And suddenly Ron was shoving a smooth, curved object into my hand. "GO!" 

I took one look at his mangled face and then looked down at the object in my hand and realized what it was. "A basilisk fang?"

"I got it out of the Chamber of Secrets—the basilisk's remains are still in there!" He urged me forward. "Find Harry!" His eyes were wide with horror and I nodded once in appreciation and started running. 

"Harry! Harry where are you!" I screamed as loudly as I could, ignoring the jabbing pains along my body. "HARRY!" 

"_STUPEFY!"_ He shouted, but I had no idea where he was.

"_CRUCIO!"_

"_PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!"_

"NOO!" 

"Harry!" I screamed and skidded to a halt when I saw him fighting another Death Eater. And then my heart leapt when I saw what he was holding: Ravenclaw's diadem. _"STUPEFY!" _I shouted and pointed my wand at the nearest Death Eater and watched my jet of red light take him down. 

Harry stopped and looked across the way at me, and then noticed what I had in my hand. "LIZZIE!" He shouted at me.

I ran forward, leaping over everything in my path, but I knew that I wouldn't make it in time. "HARRY!" I screamed and threw the basilisk fang at him, hoping to Merlin he could catch. When I landed on the ground, I pointed my wand at another Death Eater and flicked it, causing a jet of bright blue light to ignite his robes on fire. "DESTROY IT!" I shouted again and watched him catch the basilisk fang. 

He dropped to the ground heavily and plunged the fang into the heart of the diadem and suddenly everything went deathly silent. 

And then everything became horribly loud as the diadem glowed a sickly shade of green. A long, high pitched wailing encased the room in its deathly embrace.

"HARRY RUN!" I screamed at him, realizing it was about to explode into thousands of magical fragments, but I couldn't reach him and protect him because I was still on the floor, holding my arm and on my knees. 

He seemed to get the message and began to back away from the diadem, but it wasn't fast enough. With wide eyes, I watched as the diadem exploded in a hellish fury and the bright green flames licked out to the place where I last saw Harry, but suddenly he was gone. 

"HARRY!" I screamed, but then someone was grabbing the back of my outfit and pulling me up. I looked behind me and saw Harry standing there with a serious expression on his face. "What the—" I twisted away from him as we ran and my hand slid to his arm. 

"We've got to get out of here—we've got to find Voldemort," Harry panted, looking over his shoulder at me as he pulled me along. 

I glanced back and saw bright green flames engulf several random piles of objects in the strange room, and noticed frantically that the fire was getting ever closer to us. "Faster," I shouted over the roaring of flames. "Must—move—faster!" I pushed him hard, causing him to stumble slightly, but I caught him before he actually fell.

"I'm going!" He snapped at me and grabbed my hand. "There!" He shouted at once when he saw the small doorway appear along the wall opposite us.

It was only a few more steps, if we could just—

"Nice try Potter," Someone said in a cold, drawling voice.

Harry immediately stopped and pushed me behind him. "Malfoy," He spat contemptuously and stared at the pale, blonde headed boy walking toward us, twirling his wand casually. "What do you think you're doing? It's no use anymore."

"That's what you think Potter, but you aren't going to win. You can't," He sneered at Harry and his eyes fell on me. "What's that? A piece of muggle trash?"

"Son of a—" I started, and pushed forward angrily, but Harry stopped me with a sharp jab of his elbow into my stomach. Muttering angrily at him, I glowered and gripped my wand tightly. We didn't have time for this little interference, if I could just get my wand under Harry's arm…

"Move Malfoy, it's no use anymore," Harry said tiredly, as if he had just gotten sick of a long, bitter feud. "Voldemort's going down, or I'm going down; you can either help me or leave me, but I'm not letting you try and take me down." 

Malfoy, as if not expecting that statement, blinked his eyes several times while gaping, but he eventually regained his haughty demeanor and sneered at Harry again, but the words that came out of his mouth were what nobody expected. "Fine Potter, but if you actually think you're going to win, then you've got sod in your brain."

Harry's eyes flashed at the accusation, but the anger disappeared on his face as soon as he realized what Malfoy had said. "I'm going to remember this and nothing else."

"Like I care Potter." 

I lightly shoved Harry forward and soon we were brushing past the blonde haired boy and running toward the door. Glancing back, I thought I saw a brief appearance of a smile on Malfoy's face, but when I blinked it had disappeared. 

But maybe people were changing. Maybe things would be alright in the future…for Harry and everyone else of course. 

I looked back at Harry, who was now looking at me. "It's everything or nothing," I told him quietly. 

"Everything or nothing," He repeated solemnly, and pushed the door open and together we walked out to our fate.

To our destiny. 

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Any response:) 


	22. To Our Deaths

Alright, so here's the next part in the thrilling soon-to-be ending Harry Potter and the Lost Dumbledore. Yes, unfortunately, but also very excitedly at the same time, I'm going to be finished with this story. Its definetely interesting, and quite thrilling I must say.

Anyways, there's a lot of emotional (or intended to be emotional) struggle throughout this entire chapter. Actually, much of the entire story is supposed to be a sort of emotional struggle for Lizzie with her responsibilities, and, though I haven't shown it much, love for a certain character.

However, I'll stop my blabbering and let you read!

**Disclaimer:** THAT'S a difficult one, eh? HAH.

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Chapter Twenty Two: To Our Deaths

_It __was nothing like we expected when we made our way down to the lower levels of Hogwarts castle. _Everything had the scar of battle written on it somewhere, and it wasn't until we were walking down the grand staircase did we see the lasting affect the battle had made upon the wizard population. Suddenly, it was all a torrent of pain and horror so desperate and so deep that I felt my heart tremor walking through it all.

These people were risking their lives for our cause, and they were dying because of it. I needed to succeed—I needed to bring Harry to Voldemort otherwise everything I had ever fought for, everything I had ever learned or lived for would be lost.

"Are you ok Lizzie?" Harry asked me quietly as his fingers brushed across my arm.

"We need to win this Harry," I said, feeling desperateness choke my voice. I grabbed his arm and stopped him so he would have to face me. "We don't have a choice. This is it—this is for everything."

We stayed silent for a long time before Harry finally nodded and came to terms with what it was he had to do. A spark of determination and courage caught in his eyes and suddenly they were flaming with a desire for revenge and an end to all of this suffering.

Had I been able to look into my own eyes, I would have been met with the same flame that I had often seen in my grandfather's eyes. I nodded once, to show I understood the grim look upon his face.

"This is it," Harry repeated determinedly as he grabbed my hand. "This is everything we're fighting for."

Taking a deep breath, I nodded and said, "This is for everything." I started forward with his hand entwined with me, but stopped short after a moment. "I need you to promise me something Harry," I said quietly, squeezing his hand tightly.

"Anything," He promised solemnly and forced me to turn around and look at him straight in the eye.

"No matter what happens out there I want you to remember who, and what you're fighting for; remember every single person who has died defending you, and every person who's still going to die if you don't stop. Use that to keep you going." This was something that was dire for his survival, and I was hoping that he would be able to understand how important it was.

After holding my gaze for a long minute, he nodded slowly and said, "I'll do whatever I can to make sure Voldemort dies tonight as long as you promise me something."

I hesitated, unsure of what he would make me promise to. I had a feeling that it would be something along the lines of staying with him until the end, which was something I would have to break shortly. "I can only make certain promises Harry," I said heavily, hoping that I wouldn't have to tell him that I would have to die for him very soon for him to succeed.

"Then just promise me you'll stay by my side no matter what happens out there."

Looking up at him, I realized I couldn't lie; everything I had ever done to prepare myself for this task was suddenly thrust aside when I saw that he was serious. He wanted me beside him as he took down Voldemort, wanted me to be with him when we saw the Dark Lord die once and for all. But I knew what I had to do, and I couldn't just let my heart jump wildly out of control when I was supposed to be focused on saving the entire magical community—the entire world with Harry. Finally, after I couldn't hold his gaze for any longer I turned away.

Harry, sensing something was very wrong, squeezed my hand tightly as he asked, "That's not impossible for you to do is it?"

"No," I said quickly, gaining my edge back. "I can do it, and I will Harry; I'll go with you as far as I can and that's a promise." But would I really be able to leave him when I was supposed to?

Everything I had ever imagined this battle to be was quickly proven wrong as soon as Harry and I crossed the grounds of Hogwarts Castle. The scars of battle pitted the earth, and I smelled the heavy stench of blood and flesh in the dead air, but I had my constant, and he remained at my side through the long journey through the battlefields.

Before us, the Forbidden Forest grew larger with every step we took, and I felt Harry's hand brush past mine, and then grab it so our fingers were entwined. Slowly, we made our way into the ever-darkening and haunting forests that loomed in front of us. I gritted my teeth in anticipation as he kept pushing aside low boughs and brushes that scraped across our jeans. The air around us was changing, and I could clearly smell the scent of evil lurking in the forest, but didn't say a word to Harry.

Through most of the trip through the forest we remained silent, and finally we reached the edge of a clearing and heard quiet murmurings that struck us as Death Eaters. Slowly, Harry pushed aside the final tree branch that protected us from Voldemort. We looked at each other one last time before we stepped into the grassy clearing, prepared to face anything.

Above us, an inky slab of night sky sprinkled with tiny points of light stretched across the clearing, cloaking everything in the cover of night. Below us, our feet moved almost soundlessly on the matted grass and every now and then a twig would snap, or leaves would rustle, but neither of us paid much attention to the noises for the duty that bound us to each other had suddenly snapped down and refused to let us move.

In the middle of the clearing, surrounded by a circle of Death Eaters, stood a tall, pale-faced figure clad in a long, flowing robe that almost looked too big for such a skeletal body. The eyes of the man—if one could call him a man—glowed with a sickening lust for revenge, and they were the color of blood, and strangely snake-like. His face was pinched and vaguely frightening, but in this state I hardly cared. All I knew was that this was going to be the end and for some reason I was prepared for it.

Suddenly, Voldemort opened his mouth and started talking in a strange language I didn't understand, but I felt Harry go rigid beside me. The words he was forming sounded like a snake…

_The last Horcrux…Nagini…oh no, _I thought as the little breath I had in me faded away quickly. My eyes widened as I saw the grasses part for a rather large, black snake.

"There's a good girl Nagini…" Voldemort said fondly as he watched his prized pet circle around him a few times. "You can have the girl after I'm done, I know you like that don't you?"

Next to me, I felt Harry's hand go clammy as he realized that we had not gotten rid of the last Horcrux. Though I usually would have been berating myself for forgetting such an important detail, my mind was furiously working on a way to kill off the last Horcrux without being killed by Voldemort in the process. The hand that was wrapped in Harry's led his to his jean pocket where a wand was pocking out. I pulled two fingers out of his grasp and ran my fingers over his wand, waiting for the opportune moment to whip it out and destroy the snake.

Voldemort's gaze, which had previously been fixed upon the snake, was now back upon us and I felt his eyes searing the back of my head, but I refused to make eye-contact with him. That was exactly what he needed to break into my mind, but this time I wasn't going to let my defenses be overcome by the Dark Lord of the century.

_Now or never,_ I thought grimly and yanked Harry's wand out of his pocket while pulling my hand away from his I shouted, _"FLAGRATE!"_ and at once a jet of vicious flame shot out of the end of his wand and the snake ignited at once, most certainly killing it. Holding the wand in front of me still, I turned it on Voldemort and stared at him, waiting for him to besiege my mind, but he didn't.

"Impossible…" Voldemort muttered more to himself than anyone around him. "That's impossible…Snape killed the last…no…" Suddenly, his eyes leapt back to mine and they bored holes into the back of my skull.

I stared back just as determinedly, but didn't intend on extracting anything from Voldemort's tangled and wicked mind. He knew that I had just killed his last Horcrux, and he also figured out that I knew exactly what would happen if I attacked him now.

"It's not impossible, you're your grandfather through and through…I can see it in your eyes." He inclined his head a fraction of an inch and neatly tucked away his wand. "Well, well, well…looks like we have another Dumbledore in the presence of the Dark Lord don't we?"

Gritting my teeth, I merely shrugged and pulled back my wand arm, but it was only to give Harry his wand back and pull out my own. Beside me, I could hear Harry nervously shifting from foot to foot, though I tried my hardest to ignore it. I stared firmly at Voldemort, not even caring about what he saw in my mind now since it was obvious he knew who I was.

"That's very interesting…" He murmured to himself and started moving forward, wand arm outstretched. "Though I wonder if you'll have something to say when Potter's life is on the line." In one swift moment, the Dark Lord flicked his wand and jets of green light soared out of its tip and hit Harry square in the chest, sending him flying backwards into two Death Eaters, who promptly grabbed him by the arms and held him upright.

And so this would be the end of everything for me, but I was accepting and realized that this was my time to finish the work that had started years ago.

"You're on your last life Voldemort!" I shouted angrily at him as he lifted his wand again. "And you know that what you're doing right now isn't going to do you any good!" My calm exterior was breaking, but that didn't matter anymore; if rage was what was going to drive me then so be it. I tightened my grip on the wand in my hand and glared at Voldemort as he slowly lowered his wand.

"You're right," He said softly, but venom dripped in every word. "So I think I'll just have to turn this wand on you then, won't I?" He asked gleefully and flung a spell in my direction which caught me in my stomach and ripped me off the ground easily.

Screaming, I flew into a tree and slid down to the ground once again, but I got up as quickly as possible, despite my shaking legs. "Is that the worst you can do?" I shouted at him and flicked my arm toward him while saying, "_STUPEFY!"_

A jet of green light erupted from Voldemort's wand at the same time a jet of red erupted from mine and we watched the two bolts of light hit each other, then explode into a fury of gold light and send blasts of air flying out in all directions.

Without even waiting for something to happen, I sprinted through the wind and around the circle of Death Eaters and hit the two holding Harry with a square blast to the chest and watched Harry fall forward and hit the ground. "Harry! Harry wake up!" I begged frantically as I collapsed to the ground beside him and rolled him over. "Harry please wake up! This isn't how it's supposed to happen! Harry—HARRY!" I felt a tug in my stomach and at once I was pulled into the ground again.

At that moment Harry's brilliant green eyes snapped open and he saw me being dragged through the air. "LIZZIE!" He shouted back and reached for me, but his hand slipped through mine. _"EXPELLIARMUS!"_ He yelled while pointing his wand in the direction of Voldemort, but the Dark Lord merely cast the spell aside with a wave.

The only thought in my mind was to get back to him, and so I clawed through the air and looked at Harry through eyes widened with terror. _This isn't how it's supposed to happen!_ I screamed in my thoughts and felt Voldemort rip me backwards. _Grandpa Albus please!_ I begged, truly fearing that this might just be the moment of losing everything.

Voldemort pulled me to him and suddenly I was on the ground beneath him, his wand jabbing into my throat viciously. A pale hand snaked through my hair and yanked me back, and holding onto me in that manner I realized that Voldemort was infuriated, though he chose to show it in the most unconventional way possible.

Struggling to maintain a calm face, I watched Harry scramble for a standing position as he turned to face Voldemort. _No Harry, no…please…_I thought while shaking my head against Voldemort's grip and whimpering against the pain.

"Let her go! She has nothing to do with this Voldemort! It's you and me and that's how it's supposed to be!" Harry shouted furiously and clutched his wand, holding it straight out in front of him like a sword. "Leave her be!"

"On the contrary Potter," Voldemort replied in a hiss of a voice. "This girl has everything to do with the situation." He yanked me back and smiled wickedly at me, his red eyes glinting maliciously in my direction. "In fact, she stands in my way to successfully killing the only threat to my existence."

"Please," I whispered in a strangled voice as I realized that he was about to tell Harry everything when I had told him nothing. "Don't."

"What this girl has failed in telling you Potter is that she has to die for you regardless of what happens," He snarled while shoving me forward so I was forced to look at Harry while Voldemort broke the news to him. "She is your protector, as the Dumbledore line has been for ages; that pesky, aged man used to be your protector until Snape succeeded in killing him, but the responsibility passed to his naïve eighteen-year-old granddaughter who has kept the truth from you for a long time. She knew from day one that she would have to die for you regardless of what happened, and yet she felt it was a better choice to keep it hidden until the day she actually died."

Harry visibly stumbled forward and looked at me through shocked eyes. "That's…that's not true…" He said in a voice that I barely recognized, but I saw the flashes of hurt, anger and surprise across his fast and realized that I had wounded him deeper than even Voldemort could. "If she had to die for me she would have…you would have told me…" But even as he said it, he didn't believe it and I could tell that he didn't.

"Harry I'm so sorry," I said quietly in a voice that was strangled with emotion and tried to pull forward, but Voldemort only pulled me back with a satisfactory laugh. "But you have to understand that I did it for a reason!" I cried desperately, trying to make Harry hear my voice over Voldemort's snide laughter. Leaning forward again, I was plainly begging Harry to just understand where I was coming from. "I knew that if I told you, you would have never let me come here with you today! I needed to protect you—"

"How touching," Voldemort spat and threw me to the ground. "So, seeing as that is all out of the way I think I'll just continue what I started by killing you next." I could hear the evil smirk in his voice, but refused to look at him. "What shall I do to the last Dumbledore?" He pondered aloud, sarcasm dripping from every word.

"You'll do nothing to her," A silky voice said from the crowd of Death Eaters. "I won't let you."

Looking up, I saw Snape standing in a throng of parted Death Eaters and simply by looking at him I realized he was about to create a greater destiny for himself, but he wasn't going to be here to enjoy it; he was about to give his life for Harry's and mine, about to die in the fight for goodness, the fight that my grandfather had fought up until his dying day. As I watched Snape step forward everything I had ever thought about the man had trickled away leaving only a feeling of utmost respect, and utmost pity; all of his other sins, especially murdering my grandfather, had suddenly been absolved leaving a man of courage before me.

He glanced down at me for a fraction of a second and his eyes warmed with life and hope. "I know where my alliances lay Voldemort, it's a pity you don't." His eyes hardened once again and he stepped forward again, prepared to do what he was always supposed to do.

"I always knew where your alliances were you traitorous rat!" Voldemort shouted and cast a spell at the exact moment Snape fired one. The two jets of light met in midair and erupted into a flash of violent light and howling wind, but it was easy to see that Voldemort's spell had been more powerful and it crashed through Snape's and hit the former Potions master square in the chest, heaving him into the air and sending him back down.

I heard myself screaming as I watched the greasy haired man fall, not even caring that he had killed off the last of my family, or that he had tortured Harry on several accounts. I didn't even care about anything else as I watched the cold light in his eyes begin to fade away.

Harry, obviously feeling the same emotions, scrambled to his feet and ran forward to the man he once hated with a vengeance and picked him up by his shoulders. "NO!" He roared loudly.

Snape looked up at Harry with a smile of recognition on his thin lips, and I saw him slip a bottle of silvery smoke into Harry's hand before his head lolled backwards and the light faded from his eyes once and for all.

I screamed out in pain and jumped to my feet, completely ignoring Voldemort and his mirthless laugh. I ran to Snape's lifeless body and collapsed besides Harry, tears streaming down my face. "He can't be dead, he can't be dead, he can't be dead!" I repeated over and over and leaned on Harry as he set Snape down on the ground.

"See that gentlemen?" Voldemort called in a shrieking voice of utter glee. "That is the reward you receive for betraying me, so I advise you all to never betray me or your fate will be like this snake's!"

With trembling lips and shaking hands, I looked over my shoulder at the imposing figure of the Dark Lord and realized that everything had just been put into place.

This was my time to finally do what I was born to do.

And through the tears that were pouring down my cheeks, I saw Voldemort for what he truly was and understood exactly why I had been put on this earth; I understood exactly why Harry had been born: to kill the epitome of evil—and that evil would be destroyed if I had anything to say about it.

"Voldemort!" I shouted in a voice that shocked me; it was commanding and surprisingly clear despite the tears that continued to fall. "You and I have matters to discuss." Standing and completely ignoring Harry's pleads beside me; I turned and began walking toward the Dark Lord. "And I'm not letting you get to Harry until we discuss those matters. I know what you want and you know what I want, as well as what Harry wants." Holding his contemptuous gaze with my own calm one, I inclined my head and continued, "Meet back in this clearing alone in one hour and with any luck you'll survive what I'm about to bring."

After studying me carefully, Voldemort nodded and a smirk appeared on his lips. "Well, well, well it looks as though Dumbledore's pervasive manner has made its mark on his offspring," He said snidely and inclined his head. "You have one hour until your death, how does that feel?"

Smirking through tears, I shouted back, "At least I'm dying for a reason!" I turned around and grabbed Harry's outstretched hand and the two of us walked back through the parted throng of Death Eaters.

For now, just walking beside Harry and having a reason to fight gave me everything I needed and that's all I would need to die a content woman.

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So, I'm on Chapter 22 and I've only gotten 11 reviews. How about I get some more? Punch that button!

-Aprylle :)


	23. The Farewells and Memories

Back again, and with another installement of Harry Potter and the Lost Dumbledore. I really can't believe that I'm coming to an end on this, its kind of shocking actually.

Anyways, while I was re-reading this chapter I put on two good songs, so if you wish to maximize the experience, play, "Elegy for Dunkirk" by Dario Marianelli (it's off of the _Atonement_ soundtrack) for the beginning part until you reach the Hermione/Ron/Lizzie/Harry scene, and then play "Keep Holding On" by Avril Lavigne. Surprisingly enough, I was nearly in tears while re-reading.

So yes, brace yourself for a sad chapter, but I'll let you get reading and stop blathering about it. :)

**Disclaimer:** Jo Rowling did some pretty impressive work, and there's no way that I could ever say I owned any of it

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Chapter Twenty Three: The Farewells and Memories

_Harry __and I sprinted as fast as we could back to the castle; I had an hour left to get everything in order before I was sacrificed for him and I had to use the hour wisely._ Suddenly, Harry stopped in the doorway of Hogwarts and pushed me into the stone wall. When I looked up at him, I saw confusion and utter horror in his eyes, but he said nothing to me.

"I'm so sorry Harry," I said, letting my heart take over. "I never meant to hurt you, I just knew that if I had told you I was going to die at the end of this you would have locked me away for good."

"Is that the only reason why you didn't tell me?" He demanded, letting his anger get the best of him. "Had I known—if you had told me—"

"You would have tried to keep me safe," I interrupted his weak pleas. "If you want to end Voldemort's life, I have to end my own. It's the only way, don't you see? The Prophecy was made long before you were even born, and there's nothing you can do to change it now." I rested my hands on Harry's wrists and looked directly into his eyes. "It's the way of the world Harry; sacrifice is the only way we can achieve victory."

"But why you?" He asked angrily, almost as though he were a young child who was too stubborn to accept the reality of things. "Why couldn't it be someone else?"

"I'm a Dumbledore Harry; this is my family's sole purpose for living."

"How long have you known?"

"Since I was born," I replied slowly, gauging his reaction carefully. When he did nothing in response, I continued, "My family has been killed by dark wizards for years, and one by one they were picked off until only my grandfather and I were left…and then Snape killed Dumbledore, but when Voldemort thought he had a clear shot at killing you he was sadly mistaken because I was still in his way. You're still safe as long as I'm alive, but…"

"But what? Is there a way to get around this?" His eyes lit up with hope, but it was crushed as soon as I shook my head.

"So is Voldemort; as long as I'm alive, I stand in everyone's way. I'm the fault line Harry, everybody is connected through me."

"This changes everything doesn't it?" He asked in a slightly surprised voice. "Everything I have ever done up to this point was just lining you up for your death, wasn't it? Every step we made was a step closer to ending your life…" He shook his head angrily and looked away from me. "Had I known that I wouldn't have killed off Death Eaters, destroyed Horcruxes and everything else."

"Yes you would have Harry, because it's your destiny. The Prophecy that you found out about in your fifth year said that one of you has to die, and had you done nothing the entire magical community would have been at a loss. By the end of the night tonight you will have saved hundreds of people from darkness, just by killing Voldemort."

"But in the process I lose you and so many other people…my parents, Sirius, Dumbledore…I can't keep fighting and losing people Lizzie, I just can't. I didn't ask for any of this!"

"But it was given to you and you have to make it the best you can," I argued persuasively. "You can't turn your back on the situation now just because you want me to live. I've known that my dying day was coming long before you did, and I can still accept it—its your turn to accept fate now Harry."

"How can I accept fate if it kills off everyone and everything I have ever known and loved?" He retorted. "How can I accept anything that makes my life less of what it's supposed to be?"

Shaking my head, I murmured, "You have to find the strength within yourself to accept fate, otherwise it will take you and turn you inside out. Only when you find the strength to accept what your destiny was supposed to be can you save the world from the greatest evil of the time. In order to face Voldemort, Harry, you need to understand your role in the way of the world."

"And I still have to lose everyone."

"If you continue to look at it that way you'll find it harder to realize what your part is—you'll have a harder time killing Voldemort because your power is driven solely by despair and revenge. You have to know what you're fighting for Harry, and remember that you have things Voldemort doesn't; you have friends, the ability to love and so much more that he can never have because of his twisted and fragmented soul."

He stared at me for a long time and slowly nodded as the realization of the very responsibility he possessed came crushing down on him. He was heavy with dread, but he also knew that everything depended on him from this moment on. If he failed the entire world would be engulfed in the rising darkness once again and everyone would lose everything.

Slowly, he lowered his hands and slid his fingers into mine. "I'm ready for anything Voldemort throws at me," He said determinedly and looked me straight in the eye. "I can kill him and save the world from darkness."

"Just remember what you're fighting for."

"I'll be fighting for you, and for everyone else that matters to me," He said solemnly. "I'll be fighting for everything Voldemort can't."

Nodding my head, I felt the unfamiliar sensation of my throat swelling up, and my eyes beginning to burn with the distraught I thought I had conquered. This was really it, and I had just told Harry to come to terms with everything going on, but I was a hypocrite. I thought I was really ready for the end of my life, but now I realized that I was scared and helpless. I was put into a position I didn't readily accept, and it was almost as though I was trying to pass onto Harry what I didn't even have: the readiness and acceptance of death.

"It's ok," He said gently and pulled me to him in a tight hug. "This is the day that brings out everything that matters in people, and you'll be able to stand up to him on your own," He consoled while rubbing my back at the same time. "You're a Dumbledore after all…I have complete faith in you Lizzie."

My lips were trembling, but I pulled away from him and smiled as best as I could. "I'm not going to let you down you know. You're going to get to fight Voldemort and fight for everything that you've lost."

"I know I am," He said with a grateful smile. "And it's all because of you."

"HARRY!" Hermione screamed from the front of the Great Hall. "Oh my God—LIZZIE!" She dropped the bag of medical supplies she was holding and sprinted through the rows of makeshift sick bays, pushing the uninjured out of the way without even a second thought.

Ron, also across the room, looked up from his hunched over position next to a red-headed man lying on a white sheet and at once his face erupted with pure joy. "HARRY!" He shouted and stood up and sprinted toward us.

I leaned on Harry, holding his hand in my own and walked forward into the Great Hall with him, but we were frozen into place almost immediately as Hermione and Ron both attacked us with bone-crushing hugs. They thought Voldemort was gone, they thought that everything was ok and it was going to break my heart even further to tell them that it wasn't the end.

"Is he gone?" Hermione asked ecstatically and covered us both in hugs once more. "Did you defeat him? What about the Death Eaters?"

Harry looked at me and when I met his eyes, he sighed heavily and shook his head. "Lizzie has an hour before she returns to the forest to—"

"I'm giving up my life for Harry, and for the greater cause," I interrupted quickly, not wanting to hear the pain that marked Harry's every word. "It's what I was born to do." I met Hermione's eyes and she knew what I was talking about, but remained silent.

"What?!" Ron cried out in shock. "You can't—but there's got to be some other way!" He grabbed my forearm and forced me to look at him, but I could hardly stare into his hopeless eyes. They burned through me as he slowly realized what was happening. "It's what you were…born to do?"

"I'm a Dumbledore, Ron, and the Dumbledore line has always been the protector of the Chosen One," I explained slowly, feeling the weight of the words as they rolled off my tongue. "I'm destined to sacrifice myself so that Harry can finally kill off Voldemort and return the world to peace."

"There's no way out of it, is there?" Hermione asked quietly, but her voice shook with every word. When I looked back over at her I saw tears filling her eyes that she tried to rapidly blink away. "There isn't a reversal spell or something…?" She looked defeated, but she was still searching desperately for a way out of something that had been set in stone years ago.

"There is no way out of this Hermione," I said and took her arm in my hand. "But this is necessary for Voldemort to die, don't you see? I'm giving up my life so Harry can finally kill him and save the magical world. Don't worry," I tried to smile, but felt the falseness of it slap me across the face. "You'll be able to live your life without the threat of a Dark Lord and that's exactly what I'm fighting for: to remove the darkness from the world."

She shook her head and the tears spilled over as she began to cry. "That's impossible! I can't let you do it Lizzie—you mean too much to all of us!" She was indignant, but it was only because she couldn't find a way out of this spell and save my life. She knew it was for the greater good, but she wasn't willing to sacrifice her friendship with me, and somehow I knew that if she could trade places with me, she would have.

"I'll always be with you," I told her and smiled reassuringly. "I'll always be in your heart, a constant presence at your side; I promise you that." Looking around the tight circle, I repeated, "I'll be with all of you until your own dying days."

Hermione cried out and turned into Ron, who held her to him in a tight, reassuring hug. Ron's own face was beginning to turn blotchy with the strain of holding his tears back, but I saw a few escape his eyes before he rested his chin on Hermione's head.

Harry squeezed my hand, which I had forgotten was still in his, and said, "How much longer?" And a brick dropped in my stomach when I realized that I didn't have much time left to spend in this world.

"I have to visit Grandpa Albus' grave," I told him quietly and took a step back to look at the damage Voldemort had wrought upon the goodness of the world. Seeing all these people—people I had never known, and never would know—lying on sickbeds, crying out in agony as others tried desperately to help them and cease their cries. The Great Hall was amassed with bodies and the terrible stench of death, but I kept my chin high and willed myself not to collapse like I wanted to. This was what would give me strength when I needed to fight against Voldemort, and this was what was going to keep me going.

"And so we will walk," Harry replied and began turning with my hand still in his.

"Wait," I said and threw my arms around both Ron and Hermione. "Thank you," I told them in a hurried voice of desperation that was choked with my own anguish. "Thank you for everything…" When we pulled away from each other, they looked at me through solemn, tearful eyes. "Please keep Harry safe…that's all I'm asking…just please do that for me."

They smiled, but it was a strained smile through tears of grief. "Of course we will," Hermione said after a moment of collecting herself. "He's our best friend, and we wouldn't have it any other way…"

"Just fight for everything you believe in Lizzie, stay brave," Ron supplied as Hermione began trembling once again.

"I will," I promised and touched their shoulders once more before turning and joining up with Harry once more. "I'll never forget them…or any of this…any of it."

The great marble tomb stood in front of me like a light in the darkness; I ran my fingers over the intricate carvings like I had done so many months ago, but at this moment it felt as though it were years past. Gently, I lowered my lips to the cool stone and kissed it. "I'm doing this for you Grandpa Albus, and it was always for you…it was always for everything."

"This is where we first met," Harry pointed out solemnly as he circled around the grand tomb. "You were here saying goodbye…it was sunset." He traced the carvings until his hands ran over mine and we stayed like that for many minutes, just staring at our overlapped hands on the brilliant whiteness.

"This is what began my entire journey," I said, breaking the silence. "This, right here is what began everything." I looked up at him and saw his emerald eyes looking back at me that shone with a sadness that left me speechless.

"Lizzie…" He started and quickly grabbed my hand and I realized what he was about to do. "I have to tell you something that I've wanted to tell you for a long time…but I just never got a chance to tell you, and I should have before…but I thought we had a lot more time than this…" He hesitated, unsure of what to say, but it was alright because I knew exactly what he meant.

"Harry," I told him quietly and managed to smile. "It's ok, I know." I reached up and took his cheek in my hand. "And I've always wanted to tell you the same thing, but I knew it would interfere with what I had to do."

He smiled in relief and pulled me into a tight hug once more. "I'll never forget you, you know. You'll always be that one true star in my life that meant everything to me."

I smiled into Harry's shirt, but within moments I was crying again and I could hardly breathe. Everything I had ever known was coming to an end, but soon I was about to experience something greater than life itself. Pulling away, I realized that I had to go now and give my life for everything I believed in. "I have to go now Harry…"

He grabbed my shirt and held it tightly in his hands. "I don't want to lose you Lizzie, you mean everything to me." He leaned forward and gently rested his forehead on mine. He was losing control of his emotions, but it was my time.

"You want to kill Voldemort right?" I asked him, already knowing the answer. Before he even had time to say anything in response I answered, "Of course you do and in order for you to do that I have to die." As I said those words I felt my heart cleave in two and watched Harry's face change from the violent determination to plain hurt.

"Lizzie—"

"No Harry, you know it's my responsibility—this is what it comes down to." I stared up at him and felt my own resolve trembling as I watched him begin to lose all the courage and determination he had built up over the hour. "You have to be strong alright? Be strong for Dumbledore, be strong for Ron and Hermione, be strong for your parents and everyone else…be strong for me." I smiled as best I could and let my hand slide to the back of his neck. "Promise me that you aren't going to give up."

"I…I'll be strong Lizzie, I promise you; I'll kill Voldemort even if it's the last thing I do." He leaned in and pressed his lips to mine softly, but firmly at the same time. He knew this was it—this was our final moment. He brought his hands to the back of my neck and deepened the kiss and this time I didn't have the heart to pull away. "I…I love you Lizzie," He said softly when he pulled away only slightly, but our foreheads were still touching. "I think I always have."

"I know," I whispered back and lifted my head a little so our lips touched once more, but it was a very brief kiss that I pulled out of. "Be strong for me Harry."

"I will, I promise." He lowered his arms and put them around my waist, pulling me to him in a tight, crushing hug. "I won't give up," He murmured against my neck. "I'm not leaving this world without taking Voldemort with me."

"Oh Harry," I murmured back, trembling as I lifted my arms and wrapped them around his neck, squeezing him back just as tightly.

"Just remember that I love you," He told me when we finally stepped away from each other. "Just remember that I'm going to kill him right after he…" His face twisted in pain, but he quickly shook the thoughts away. "I'm going to kill him, I promise."

I smiled at him sadly and nodded. "I know you will," I told him quietly and started walking away so only our hands were touching. Slowly, our hands slid away from each other's as I turned around and began walking down the gently sloping hill that led into the forest. I knew Harry would be standing at Dumbledore's tomb until he could no longer see me, but I didn't turn around again. I needed to keep moving, and if I turned around I would never be able to do what I was born to do.

So I kept my head high as I walked across the grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry—the very place my grandfather had presided over for years and years, the place that was holding the last battle in this war against darkness. These would be the final moments of Voldemort's reign, and with that thought I was able to push myself against the crushing sadness that welled up inside me.

I was fighting for them.

I was fighting for everything.

So who teared up? Haha. Anyways, I do have the next chapter written, I just have to re-read and stuff like that (the Last Dumbledore vs. Voldemort--exciting!) and then there's probably a chapter or two after that, followed by an Epilogue.

Reviews would make my day :)


	24. The End is Just the Beginning

Well, I'm sorry I haven't updated in a pretty long time. Track season on top of school has just been pretty crazy lately. In any case, I do have Spring Break this week and I'm hoping that at least next Sunday I can post another chapter. It turns out that this is taking me longer to wrap up then I had expected, which is absolutely fine for me because I love writing it :)

So that means that we'll have a few chapters left for your reading pleasure.

In any case, I'm also trying to make a soundtrack based off of this story. For this chapter any good action songs with driving beats, such as Linkin Park or Evanescence, helped me write it so it might make the listening experience better. Also, Requiem for a Tower or some Epica music is also good.

So enjoy this chapter :)

**Disclaimer:** Duh.

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Chapter Twenty Four: The End is Just the Beginning

_Everything __that had ever mattered to me in the past, everything that I had ever loved and cared for was suddenly rushing to the front and center of my mind as I walked through the dark woods. _Faces flashed across my eyes and I was sobbing bitterly when I realized that this was the end of everything I had ever known. Suddenly, I stopped and fell to the ground, unable to go any further as memories washed over me and pulled me down to a place where I couldn't escape.

I put my hand to my heart and bent over my knees, trying to hold myself together despite the fact that every breath nearly ripped me apart. I cried out for everything I had ever lost and everything I was going to lose tonight, and wished that it could be different, but knew that what I was doing was pathetic.

Facing my death was supposed to be easier than this; I was left alone in the world because of Voldemort and his reign of darkness, and now I was being given the chance to destroy something that had destroyed my own life. I looked up into the darkness of the wood and my thoughts cleared instantly as one single thing pressed forward in my mind: this will be the end of Voldemort.

Standing, I put my hand against a tree trunk to steady me while I regained my composure and looked forward. There would be no going back after tonight; this was the end of everything.

"So she has finally decided to join us," Voldemort's deadly voice hissed through the trees as I pushed aside a low pine branch and stepped into the clearing. "Are you ready to die?"

I inclined my head in his direction, and said with a smirk on my lips, "I'm ready to live and nothing less, Voldemort." I walked forward until a ten foot distance separated the two of us, and immediately the Death Eaters circled around, cutting off my escape.

But it wasn't as though I was going to try and escape anyways, this was what I had to do and there was no running from it anymore; I was here, this was now.

"To live?" He laughed and looked up into the sky. "How can you live if you're about to become as cold as the earthen floor below you?" He asked snidely as his crimson eyes glittered with malice.

"You have no understanding of the meaning of life Voldemort, and you shouldn't kid yourself into believing that you do," I replied with a snarl. "And don't even try to start and understand it because you aren't going to have enough time to do so."

"So sure of Potter are you?"

"I have greater faith in Harry than you've ever had in anybody else that has walked this earth. I know that he'll defeat you because he has things you don't have, and that you'll never have. His soul is pure and joined together as one, while yours has been split and destroyed over and over. You only have one piece left, and that's the piece that I'm about to scar." I stepped back into a common defensive position and pulled out my wand. "So are we going to battle this one out, or are we going to sit here and talk about it?"

Voldemort's eyes flashed dangerously as he pulled out his own wand, but he made a sweeping, sarcastic bow before stepping into an attack stance. "Is this a common Wizard's Duel, or is it not? Shouldn't you bow before me?"

_Bloody respect_, I thought savagely and lowered my head in his direction. "Only because it is what's required of us, and I'm not going to disrespect the rules of a common Wizard's Duel," I told him shortly and waited on my toes for him to throw the first spell.

After a moment of long, calculating silence, Voldemort lifted his wand arm and fired a spell straight at me. It was obvious he was testing my capabilities, though he already knew I was a Dumbledore, but that didn't matter to him it seemed.

I flicked my wand and halted the spell before it hit me, and turned it around so that it went sky-rocketing back toward its caster. Gritting my teeth, I watched him leap aside and fire two jets of green light toward me, that would have caught me in the stomach had I not dropped to the ground and screamed, _"STUPEFY!"_ My own spell hit one of Voldemort's and sent it up into the nighttime sky, where they both disappeared.

Growling something indiscernible, Voldemort swept back into darkness, and lifted his wand arm once more in a gesture similar to a swordsman's, and he fired a spell to my left, which drove straight into the ground and suddenly, the earth below me exploded.

I cried out in surprise as I was thrown into the air by the blast of the explosion, but didn't let him have the upper hand; as soon as I landed, I rolled over and fired back a spell quickly, which was then followed by a jet of flame.

"This is your last night to live!" Voldemort shouted at me over the roaring of flames. "How does that make you feel Dumbledore?" His laugh, which was full of mirth, echoed through the clearing, and soon several Death Eaters joined him in tormenting me, but I was forced to ignore them.

"Just shut up and keep saving your skin!" I screamed at him as I flicked my wrist once more and said, _"EXPELLIARMUS!"_ Granted, it was the disarming spell, but when one's emotions were heated with fury strange things could happen to the simplest of spells. Certainly enough, the easy disarming spell exploded like a cannon out of the end of my wand and careened toward Voldemort with the power of any Unforgivable.

Crimson eyes wide with shock, Voldemort moved his wand back and forth quickly and formed a shield in front of him, which only protected him from part of the blast—unfortunately for him, he was tossed into the air and sent sliding across the dirt ground.

"That's what happens when you fight with Dumbledore's!" I yelled at him and doubled over with the effort of exertion. As I looked through the curtain of damp hair that had swung into my face, I saw Voldemort slowly stand and pace for a moment before looking at me. This was a stalemate, and we both knew it, but neither of us would admit it. A job had to be done, and we would keep fighting until one of us was dead, whenever that would be.

"Very well," Voldemort said with a short, sweeping bow and lifted his wand arm and fired off spell after spell after spell in such a rapid manner that I had to sprint backwards toward the Death Eaters and try to dodge them all.

Unfortunately, one spell hit me in the back and I went flying forward, straight into the arms of a grinning Death Eater. Gasping for air, I pushed away from him and tumbled back into the battle arena and suddenly an explosion of pain rippled through my back in such a manner I screamed out in agony. "AGH!" Doubling over, I held my rib cage as the pain spasm subsided bit by bit and I was able to look up.

"It appears as though you seemed to have lost your touch," He sneered delightfully and stepped back fluidly and brandished his wand arm. "So what is it that a Dumbledore's remaining survivor will do next?"

"What we always do," I responded haltingly and staggered to my feet. "Fight back and make bloody well sure we kill off whatever's in our way." I lifted my wand arm and was about to fire off a few spells when someone caught my wrist and pulled me to the ground again. _What?_ My mind whirled as I turned to see who was behind me, and I saw a Death Eater grinning as he aimed to kick my head. I opened my mouth to cry out in protest—

"Absolutely not!" Voldemort hissed with such venom I shrank back unwillingly. "This is a fair duel Goyle."

Goyle released his grip on my wrist and stepped back in one quick motion.

Rubbing my wrist furiously, I sat up and looked at Voldemort with a mixture of surprise and slight respect on my face. I hadn't expected him to speak up when I was about to be unfairly abused, but it looked as though Voldemort really did want to duel the last Dumbledore truly alone. Inclining my head in a gesture of loathing thanks, I stood and faced him once again.

"Let us continue," He hissed, but somehow his voice was softer than before, almost with a pleasant quality to it, but I didn't let my mind dwell on the tone of his voice for long; I had a battle to fight.

"Of course." I raised my wand arm and the two of us began circling around each other, waiting for the opportune moment to strike, if that moment ever came. I stepped lightly and kept my eyes on Voldemort, watching and calculating as he seemed to flow languidly.

Suddenly our eyes locked and at once I was pulled under.

"_You shall die!"_

"_Please, please not Harry—no!"_

"_A great man has died today…"_

"_She's gone…"_

As the whirl of images and sounds passed through my head, I fell forward and gasped in pain. I had not expected him to take me under through Occlumency, but he had succeeded in doing so. But just as soon as the images had come, they disappeared once again and I was looking into Voldemort's malevolent eyes that had spelled out my future.

He intended to kill me right here and now, with this final shot.

This was going to be the end…but for some reason I was completely ready for it.

Holding my arm, which had flared up with pain as blood bloomed across my sweater. As I looked at myself, I realized I had been beaten and broken, but my determination didn't let me feel the pain. My face felt scarred now, and my jeans were ripped and dampened with spots of blood. Taking a deep breath, I looked up and watched Voldemort take his stance.

"Are you ready to die Elizabeth Jane Dumbledore? Last of the Dumbledore's forever—the last thing standing in my way to get to Harry Potter?" He sneered as a smirk crept upon his thin lips, and obviously he was expecting me to grovel, but I wasn't going to; I wasn't going to give him that satisfaction.

Inclining my head proudly, I said, "You'll still be defeated Voldemort; Harry will kill you because he has everything you don't, and that's everything that matters in the world." Everything I had been taught, everyone I had loved, everything that had ever meant something to me in life was welling up in a torrent of emotion, determination and power. I felt my wand tingling in my palm, itching to absorb this power and expel it across the clearing in one final swoop.

"So does that mean you're ready to give up your short, wasted life?"

"No," I told him defiantly and threw my shoulders back. "I'm ready to live a wondrous one!" I threw my wand arm forward and jets of brilliant, blue-colored light soared out of the end of it, just as Voldemort shot out a sickly red spell.

The colored arcs met each other in midair, and for several seconds they were struggling against each other and I had to grip my wand and keep it steady as it vibrated in my hand. Looking across the clearing, I saw Voldemort doing the same as his cloak billowed backwards with the force of the magic at work.

But the struggle was only temporarily delaying my death; within moments the connection broke as Voldemort's spell tore through my own, dispersing the blue-colored light into many directions that lit up the clearing with an eerie glow.

I looked up and saw the red light careening toward me, but didn't move because I knew that no matter what I did this was going to be the end. I gasped and felt the spell hit my chest in a final, crushing blow that sent me barreling backwards and into the ground with tremendous effort. The last thing I felt was immeasurable pain that seemed to seep through my bloodstream, and I screamed out in agony.

"And so passes the last of the Dumbledore's," Voldemort said quietly as he stood above me, looking curiously at me with his crimson eyes.

And suddenly everything was peaceful as my vision clouded over, and finally I closed my eyes and breathed out, and in that way the last of the Dumbledore's had passed on from the earth.

&

Just for clarification: Lizzie has died, but let me just say the next chapter has been influenced by JK Rowling in many ways.

Reviews? :)


	25. A Time of White

Hey everybody. Like I promised, here's the next update! I'm so excited I was actually able to keep this update :) but don't get too mad at me because the next one will take a bit longer. I haven't even written Chapter Twenty Six yet, but I do know what's going to happen.

Before you start to read this chappie, understand that Lizzie's confused, so it only makes sense that the readers are confused as well. She is dead, don't mistake that, but she's sort of still attached to earth, like ghosts are in a sense. And I know that you'll notice the parallels between this chapter (and the next chapter) and the final chapters of _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows._ I don't mean at all to rip JK Rowling's work off, but I'm just spinning it to fit this story because I felt that it was an important conclusion to the Harry Potter series.

Soundtrack note: I really don't have any songs that remind me of this chapter, but if you think of anything let me know.

**Disclaimer:** All belongs to JK Rowling, a genius in her own right. :)

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Chapter Twenty Five: A Time of White

_If __I had ever made an assumption, a belief over what death was supposed to be, I could safely say it was nothing like what I was experiencing right now._ If this was death—this pure, white world where all my troubles seemed to have melted away—then I had been wonderfully mistaken.

Slowly, I blinked my eyes against the bright, piercing and vaguely mysterious light that seemed to radiate throughout the place. I was on the ground, naturally, but I realized it was so much softer than the hard earth I had been fighting Voldemort on in the clearing. I lifted a hand, despair tingeing the edges of my mind, and reached out into the whiteness, hoping that my hand would come in contact with something—_anything_ was better than being in a world of starkness.

Suddenly, I noticed that I was no longer clad in jeans and a sweater; I wore a flowing, pale-blue dress that seemed as though it were made for an angel, not for me. When I examined my skin closely, I also saw that it shimmered strangely in the light, and that all traces of the battles I had fought were removed.

I was flawless; I was angelic…I was dead.

The thought hit me like a ton of bricks, and I jolted forward, gasping for air. I knew I had died, I knew Voldemort had killed me, so why was I reacting like this?

My head seemed to move on a swivel as I looked left, right, forward and backwards; I strained my eyes to see into this strange, ethereal world that must have been Heaven…or perhaps it was somewhere else entirely. However, my eyes met nothing except for a barren whiteness that seemed to engulf everything; it was a strange, foggy sort of world that made me uneasy, and yet it was impossible for me to feel anything but contentedness.

A shadow in the distance attracted my attention, as it was the only thing that stood out against the surreal light, and my eyes focused on it. I watched it walk my way, and slowly began to realize that everything around me was changing.

Suddenly, a forest was springing up in the place of the cutting whiteness and before me stood a large, round lake. In the distance, I noticed the outline of a large building that looked as though it were a castle…

And that's when I began to grasp everything. I was on Hogwarts' grounds once again…but this time I was dead—I was a spirit that had been caught in between the two worlds.

Looking to my left, I saw a large, menacing, cloaked figure and looking to my right, I saw the figure of a young man walking as though he bore the weight of the world on his shoulders.

And that's when I realized I was about to witness the final battle between Harry and Voldemort. That's not what I wanted—that's not what I had counted on when I had died. I didn't want to stay here and watch this, I wanted to move on and die peacefully, like thousands—millions of other people. I couldn't be here—it was unbearable for me to be here.

And so I turned and began running across the grass, which was beginning to turn back into the same whiteness as before, although this time it was glowing in a harsher manner, almost as if it were angry with me for turning my back on the inevitable.

As I ran, I noticed something else beginning to take shape in front of me, but before I could even realize what it was I fell forward and everything I had seen faded from view.

&

Groaning in discomfort, I turned over and my palm slapped against something hard and cool, and that's when I recognized that something was different…something had changed since the last time I had woken up.

Opening my eyes, I didn't see the glare of a white light this time, and when I looked around the scene looked vaguely familiar. As I turned to look at myself, I was no longer clad in a dress, and my skin no longer glowed mysteriously…I was _me._

"I'm happy that you've joined us," Someone said in a voice that seemed to heal my broken soul—in a voice I knew and loved, in a voice that reminded me of everything good in life.

"Grandpa Albus," I breathed and turned in the direction of his voice. Smiling brightly, I pushed myself off the ground without another backwards glance and ran to him. "I've missed you so much," I told him as we embraced. "It's been so hard without you—oh I've missed you!"

"I know child, I know," He said gently and we parted. "But you've done a wonderful job; you've done exactly what you were supposed to do." He smiled at me, and as he smiled his blue eyes—eyes that mirrored my own—twinkled. "I couldn't have done it better myself."

As my grandfather—one of the most powerful wizards that world had ever known—said that, I felt a thrill of elation in my heart. Beaming at him, I replied, "Well I couldn't have done it without all your wisdom Grandpa."

"Ah, but it was you who carried out the responsibility, not me."

As he said that, the joyful exterior I had on was slipping away when I realized that neither of us were in the mortal world…we weren't with Harry anymore. I bit the corner of my lip and looked down at the floor beneath us. "Is this real?" I asked hoarsely.

"It's real for as long as you want it to be Elizabeth," Grandpa Albus replied gently, sensing the raw tenor of emotion that had suddenly sprung up. "I know this is difficult, I know you had a hard—"

"I was ready, I was prepared. You told me a long time ago not to make too many attachments, and I didn't…" But even as I said that it I knew it was a lie. I had made attachments, I had made a few, but they were strong, _sure_ attachments that kept me linked to the mortal world.

"You made some attachments, I know you did Elizabeth," He replied, not falling for my façade. "It would have been impossible not to; Harry, Hermione and Ron are three of the best people I have ever met in my life, and they opened up their doors to take you in. I know you're still attached, and that is precisely why you can't move on just yet."

"I have to make sure they're ok," I said roughly as I began choking on tears. "I have to know if Harry kills Voldemort—if Ron and Hermione are going to be alright." Wiping my eyes quickly, I looked back up at Grandpa, who was looking down at me with a slightly sad expression on his face. "No…" I breathed, unable to believe it, even if it were true. "Harry's not dead…he can't have lost—I told him that he had to defeat Voldemort!" At this point, all composure that I had struggled to maintain fell away and I was crying outright. "Harry's alive, he has to be! I did everything I was supposed to do—he promised me that he would finish him!"

At once, Grandpa took me into his arms and held me as I began shaking with sobs. He remained silent, and grave through it all, and just held me. I couldn't have asked for anything else, I was afraid of what he might say.

But as I cried, I realized it wasn't just Harry I was crying for, I was crying for everyone who wouldn't have a chance to live because Voldemort _wasn't _gone, I was crying for Hermione and Ron, for all of Ron's family, for all the Muggles, for everyone I had never met, and never would.

But even more, I was crying because I finally saw that I wasn't ready to die, I had never been ready to die in the first place; I had never been ready to give up my life for someone else, even if it was for the bettering of the world. I knew that I had just lost everything, and now I couldn't come to terms with the fact that I was dead.

I had lost everything.

"You understand now," Grandpa said, and it wasn't a question, it was a statement. He knew that I was beginning to see everything I had given up for Harry. As he slowly pulled away, he fixed me with his eyes and they seemed to bore into my weakened spirit. "You know that you've given up everything for the life of someone else, for the lives of thousands of people that might have been killed had you not died for Harry."

Looking into his eyes, I nodded solemnly and fought back the tears that started forming again. "I know exactly what I did, but I was never truly prepared for it…my heart—my soul was never really ready to let go…and that's why I'm here."

"And you're exactly right," He assented and took my shoulders in his hands. "And you understand that I am here for the exact same reason you are, correct?"

Shocked, I blinked my eyes several times and felt my mouth part slightly. "That's impossible…you can't be…" But as I thought it through, I realized that Grandpa was speaking truthfully. Why else would he be here, if not for that?

"I wanted to make sure you were alright, that Harry was alright, that the Order was alright. There were too many things I was leaving behind that I needed to make sure would go on successfully without me, and I couldn't leave all of that. I have been in this in-between place since I died, and I wasn't even considering moving on until I was sure you were ok," He explained solemnly. "It took its toll on me, I can not argue that. I've grown older with each day, my body falling away bit by bit, but it has all been worth it to see your smiling face again. I knew that, had I moved on and you accomplished your task, I might not have ever been able to see you again. This was the one place where I was sure we would meet again."

"Why were you hurting yourself?" I demanded fiercely. "I was alright without you Grandpa—I did everything exactly the way you had told me! You shouldn't have put yourself through all of this suffering just to make sure I was alright!"

"To see your face and make sure you were alright was reason enough," He answered simply. "And now that I know you're safe, there's something else you should see…" He looked away from me, and as I followed his gaze I realized we were at Platform 9 ¾, the very platform of the Hogwarts Express.

And then my eyes found a creature, writhing, slippery and disgusting in the corner. I gasped and I couldn't look away from the creature—its repulsiveness enthralled me. "What _is_ that?" I asked.

"That is the last Horcrux, the last piece of Voldemort's soul," He answered firmly. "And it won't do you any good to look at it any longer Elizabeth Jane; it's repulsive and horrible. I have never seen a creature in more torment than that thing." His voice was tinged with revulsion, and it was also commanding, so I looked away instantly.

"What am I supposed to do?" I asked desperately, feeling that there was something I missed—something important that I was supposed to do before I passed on. "I don't feel at ease—I don't feel like I can move on yet Grandpa."

"You have to come to terms with yourself before you finally move on Elizabeth, but you have to do that on your own. I can't help you find yourself." He looked at me with undisguised sympathy in his eyes, and the sympathy dimmed the bright blue twinkle that usually resided there. He knew that there was something else, something far more important that I missed, and the way he looked at me with such sadness in his eyes made me realize that I might have failed.

"What have I done?" I choked out and sunk to the concrete floor, shaking and feeling a chill settle into my skin. "What did I miss? Whose life was lost because of me?" I questioned frantically, trying to find my mistake, trying to find the snag in the plan. I couldn't be blamed for the loss of a life—I wouldn't be able to handle the raw emotions that ripped through me…Hermione, Ron…Harry…dead, all dead…

And that's when a thought as clear as crystal appeared in front of me; it was a vicious, agonizing truth that pierced my very soul.

Oh Merlin, no.

He wasn't supposed to die yet…I made a mistake…he wasn't…oh God.

"No, no, no," I moaned and put my head into my hands. "Why didn't you tell me?" I looked up at him as my vision began to blur and my thoughts scrambled. "How was I supposed to know that Harry wasn't supposed to die—"

"Elizabeth," Grandpa cut me off with a sharp voice. "You need to stop wallowing in the grief of your mistakes and realize that some things can't be undone." He took a deep, shuddering sigh and admitted, "I learned that the hard way, and I don't want you to go down the same path I did."

And that's when it hit me: Grandpa could never leave here. He had been here for far too long and there was no way he could move on. It was too late.

"Grandpa…" I mumbled and wiped my eyes. "I'm so sorry…I didn't mean—I didn't—"

"Time has passed Elizabeth and it can not be reversed; if it could I would come back and take care of this mess myself, instead I've dropped it unceremoniously onto your lap. This entire mess was my fault, but I have faith that it will be righted in time."

"But how will Harry survive?" I whispered and looked down at the floor I was sitting on. "How will he be able to kill off such a monster?"

"Have faith Elizabeth, that's all you have to do."

And for the time being that was all I could do.

&

Reviews? Opinions? Suggestions? Any soundtrack ideas by the way?

Anything would be lovely, so hit those buttons!

-Aprylle. :)


	26. Bringing Back the Memories

Hello again guys, back with another installment of Harry Potter and the Lost Dumbledore. This chapter really mirrors a lot of Chapter 35: King's Cross in _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows_, but it was because I wanted to keep the same ideas and didn't know how else to write them. Don't accuse me of copying off of JK Rowling, because I wasn't allegedly trying to plagarize off of her or anything.

Anyways, there's two chapters and an epilogue following this chapter, so we're coming down to the end! I hope you enjoy this one :)

By the way, as for soundtracks go I'll be posting that after the epilogue. For this chapter I highly suggest something like: Learning to Breathe, by Switchfoot.

**Disclaimer:** All ideas, places and characters belong to JK Rowling, with the exception of personal experiences by Lizzie Dumbledore.

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Chapter Twenty Six: Bringing Back the Memories

_Teetering __on the edge of despair, I held fast to the park bench Grandpa had forced me into as soon as I started shaking uncontrollably._ Staring at my hands trembling in my lap, I realized that sitting on the sidelines was so much harder than fighting Voldemort up front; waiting for Harry's destiny to unravel was so much more difficult than battling the wicked one up front. My breathing came in quick gasps as I desperately tried to quell the sobs that inched their way up my dry throat.

I was in pain, more pain than I should have been for one who died; but it wasn't natural pain. The pain I felt was a sharp, stabbing and grating in my heart; it was longing, but it was more pronounced longing than I had ever felt—and the longing was killing me over and over again.

"Elizabeth," Grandpa Albus' voice interrupted my withering thoughts, and gently prodded them in the right direction. "There's someone you have to see."

I looked up, startled out of a hopeless reverie and stared into those eyes that had always been so familiar to me; they were twinkling again and I saw happiness in them. What would my grandfather be happy about at a time like this? At a time when I was falling apart at the seams?

"Trust me Elizabeth," He soothed me, calming my rough edges. "You have to trust me Elizabeth; otherwise you'll be lost to this world forever." His voice was commanding, and almost frantic, but I could still hear the comfort in his words.

I stared at him, unsure of how to respond, but suddenly it didn't even matter anymore. There was a tugging in my mind, and I turned in the direction it was turning me—and that's when everything fell into place.

Across the whiteness of Platform 9 ¾, a dark figure contrasted with the pearly luminescence. It was obviously a young male and he walked with a stoop, almost as though he were relieved to be here.

"No…" I breathed out and my throat began to close up and cut away my words. "Oh Merlin no, Grandpa it's not possible." I continued to stare at the figure that seemed to be doubling in size as he walked toward us. "He isn't—he hasn't—oh God…"

"Elizabeth," He said, trying to bring me back down to a normal level where I could comprehend everything that was going on. His voice was tinted with a hard edge, which made me realize that I had to be focused because we didn't have much time.

Until what though?

The thought frightened me, but even so I tried my hardest to calm the nerves that had already been frayed from earlier. Just now, at this moment, I wished that I was truly dead and not in this dreadful in between place that continued to frighten me with its revelations. I stared at the boy—the young man I had come to know so well, who was walking toward us still; my attention was all pinned on him now, and that was all that mattered.

Suddenly, he was standing almost before me and he raised his head a fraction of an inch, but it was enough.

That was all I needed to see, a glimpse of his emerald eyes and it told me everything. I looked over at my grandfather who was staring at Harry with the same trepidation on his face, but a second later he looked down at me and his head moved up and down a fraction of an inch.

Without words, Harry and I began sprinting across the remaining distance that separated us, and soon it was just him and me. I didn't even realize it, but I was crying into his shoulder as he tightened his hold around my own shoulders.

"Lizzie," He said in a voice that shocked me, but I couldn't pull away and see if he was alright. It was too good just being in his arms as I cried out everything I had kept pent up for years. His arms instinctively tightened once more and he tried to make the invisible distance between us disappear even more, but either way it didn't matter because we were already as close as we could be.

I sobbed into his shirt, not caring that I got it wet or that he saw me as an emotional wreck, all I cared about was that he was with me again which was something I had previously thought impossible, but now it wasn't. Harry—Harry Potter was standing in front of me, holding me as I cried out in strangled pain.

"Oh Lizzie," He said again, and this time I caught the desperation in his voice.

I backed my head away a little and saw that he had tears filling his eyes, but he wasn't crying yet—his cheeks were still dry. "Harry," I murmured quietly, sensing that he needed to hear me say something. I lifted my hand and touched his cheek gently, sensing that I needed to assure him I was real. "Yes," I answered his unspoken question. "This is real, and I want you to do something for me."

"Anything," He choked out.

"Don't be scared."

"I'm not."

I smiled and leaned my head against his chest again, just happy to feel the warmth of his skin again; this made me content in a way that nothing else could.

Grandpa Albus, witnessing the whole scene, politely cleared his throat after the long moments of tenderness had passed.

I jumped in Harry's arms, and he tightened them around me, but I pulled away quickly. "There's someone else…" But my voice faded as soon as I saw his eyes wide with shock and hurt as they found Grandpa Albus.

"_Professor_?" He cried out after a moment of still silence. "How are you—what are you still doing here?"

"I don't have time to discuss that right now Harry," He responded as politely as ever, and stepped forward slowly to touch the boy on the shoulder. "But I want you to know that you've done the best job anyone could hope for under the circumstances. I unceremoniously dropped everything into your lap without explaining anything, but I'm so proud of what you have done since then." He smiled and a twinkle of light reached his eye briefly before he returned to seriousness. "However, there are some things you must understand before you go back…"

The breath in my throat caught and I looked at Grandpa with evident surprise on my face, but I couldn't form the words to ask him what he was talking about. Going back was impossible…if it wasn't I would be back there already.

"Go…back?" Harry said as though he were confused.

"Yes Harry, go back."

"But he…but he killed me."

"But you also let him kill you remember?" Grandpa said with a smile on his face. "And that makes all the difference in the world. You figured out what no one else could, not even me or Elizabeth."

"That the last part was in me the whole time, I just never knew it. It was more than just a scar that joined Voldemort and I, it was an actual part of his soul that he transferred into me when he attempted to kill me seventeen years ago." Harry looked over at me, his face showed that he was proud of figuring it out on his own, but he was also very aware that I was looking at him through a blank face.

"But you're still confused," He added simply. "And that is acceptable because death is a hard thing to understand, and overcome at any point in life." His eyes darkened for an instant, but I was sure I was the only one who noticed it.

"How am I able to still live after he killed me? Even if it was just his soul he killed—"

"Precisely Harry, it was just _his_ soul that he killed on his own accord. Yours was still safe because it was whole and untouched, and there's something else…can you figure it out?"

After a long moment of silence, Harry looked back at Dumbledore, "That time he used my blood to regenerate his body."

"Yes and that alone attaches you to him because you share the same blood—the same blood that your mother had put an enchantment over so many years ago. And you see, this is Voldemort's greatest fault because he doesn't have the knowledge to comprehend such magic as this. While he still lives, so do you, because the enchantment your mother had protected you with years ago is still being used by his body."

"So I can still go on living as long as Voldemort is, even with the prophecy still in tact?" He asked, and for a moment he looked over at me, but I remained quietly neutral. "But one of us has to die…"

"Harry," Dumbledore said in a comforting voice. "I'm not entirely sure what will happen when you go back, but what I do know is that one of you will have to die; there's a good chance it might be Voldemort, but there's also a good chance it might be you," He took a breath and looked up into the pearly sky. "But you see, the prophecy can be discounted because Voldemort made a grave mistake the night he tried to kill you, because that's when your mother died to protect you. Her sacrifice leads to the problem Voldemort has now, and by using that you have a good chance of killing him."

"But I can't—I'm not strong enough to defeat Voldemort!"

"You let yourself be killed last time Harry, you don't know how powerful you truly are," Dumbledore reminded him gently. "And besides, you have more than enough people who support you and know that you can bring the darkness down for good."

This time when Harry looked back at me, I let the careful composure I had constructed slip away and I smiled at him. Nodding, I said, "Harry, this is what you were born to do remember? You're going to defeat Voldemort." In truth, there was nothing I had been surer about in my entire life, and so many people depended on Harry that it was impossible for him not to succeed.

"But if you can't make it out of this suspended world soon, you'll lose every opportunity you have to defeat the darkness."

A goodbye; another goodbye. I didn't know how well I would be able to stand another one, and I looked up at Grandpa Albus as I felt the blood drain from my face.

"I—I—Professor, I can't leave Lizzie again," He stuttered out as he looked at my face, which had snapped toward him in shock. "I care about her too much, and I can't do this without her." He reached forward, extending a hand that he wanted me to take.

Weakly, I allowed my fingers to slip into his and was instantly pulled into him. I began shaking at the thought of him leaving, but I managed to keep from crying as I stared at Grandpa Albus, who stared back with a stillness that frightened me.

"She sacrificed herself too! Doesn't that count for something?" Harry demanded as his voice teetered on the edge of all-out hostility.

"Her sacrifice was different," He responded coolly. "It was her duty; it was something she had to do for you Harry."

Taken aback by the coolness of his tone, Harry recoiled and looked down at me. "I can't lose you again," He told me quickly as his voice cracked with raw emotion. "Damn it Lizzie, I can't do this all over."

Not trusting my voice, I merely leaned my head against Harry's shoulder and let him hold me close to him. As I stood by him, I thought of everything I could to try and find something to help me get back to the human world, but nothing was coming to me.

"I'm so sorry," Grandpa Albus said softly as he saw the two of us breaking down. "I am so sorry Harry, Elizabeth…you have no idea how awful I feel. I should have known the two of you would have formed an attachment…but even so, I never expected it to be so strong."

"Please," I said finally, shocked at the way my voice cracked horribly. "I can't do this again…I just can't do it all over…I already lost…no…" But then, I stopped all together and my eyes snapped open. "Attachments," I said briefly as an edge crept into my voice once again. "I've formed multiple attachments with the other world, and they've been increasingly strong Grandpa. You said that I'm in the suspended world because of those attachments, so is it possible I can be pulled back through?" I looked at him with pleading eyes, desperately hoping that his answer would be a yes. I squeezed Harry's hand with all my might and knew that he was hoping too.

"I don't know Elizabeth…" He said solemnly, but as he looked around the pearly landscape a train pulled up to Platform 9 ¾…the Hogwarts Express in all its scarlet-colored glory. "Its time Harry…"

"I'm not leaving without Lizzie," He said determinedly and stared at the train that had just pulled up. "You can't force me onto that train Professor, I won't go without her."

I looked up at Grandpa as fear began filling my face. It was one thing to be separated from Harry forever, but it was another thing completely to cause his death, a real and actual death that separated him from the living. My lips were trembling and my eyes were widened to the point where I must have looked like a fool, but I couldn't help it—I was scared for Harry's life.

"Harry—"

"Harry," I said firmly as I gained my voice back. "You have to go regardless of whether or not I come. I can't promise you I'll survive that journey, but I can promise you that I'll be with you forever; I'll be in your heart until the day it stops beating. God Harry, you don't know how much I want to come back with you, but I don't know if I'd be able to survive."

"Go," Grandpa Albus' voice cut over mine. "Go Elizabeth, go and survive. You deserve a happier life than staying here, you deserve Harry and Hermione and Ron, and you deserve to live." He looked at me and nodded. "You don't know how much I would hate myself if you stayed here forever when I know that it's possible for you to survive; you're stronger than anyone I've ever known Elizabeth, you have to make it."

My head whirled back around to face the man that was taken from me so many months ago, the one man who believed in me and who had actually cared for me when so many other people couldn't. As I looked at him, I realized that this would truly be the last time I would ever see him…there would be no more incidences like this if I left. "Oh Grandpa," I said as the tears began to fill my eyes again. "I—"

"Go!" He ordered as the whistle of the Hogwarts Express blew harshly. "I'll be with you Elizabeth, whenever you need me I'll be there…just remember who you are and what you stand for!" He called to me as Harry began pulling me toward the moving Hogwarts Express.

"I love you Grandpa Albus!" I shouted over the whistle. "I'm not going to let you down!"

Harry leapt up onto the train and pulled me up with him and the two of us looked out the window as the train began moving faster.

"I won't forget!" I cried again as the platform began falling away and the train picked up speed. Through tearful eyes, I watched the figure of my grandfather disappear from my life once more and I quickly turned into Harry. "I miss him already," I whispered.

"I know," He consoled quietly and began to rub my shoulders. "Oh Lizzie, I know."

When I looked back out the window, the train station had completely disappeared and we were flying across a land of pearly white.

"Oh Grandpa Albus…" I murmured one last time and leaned my head back against Harry's shoulder. "I won't let you down...I can't."

&

And so, what is the opinion of the collective audience? Hit that review button and let me know!


	27. The Ending of an Era

Hi guys! Wow, sorry for the really long delay of this chapter. I've just been really busy with the end of the year and everything else (finals this week--wooo! lol). Anyways, I hope you won't kill me for it!

So this is Chapter 27 and I've got one or two chapters plus an epilogue left, but I can't believe I'm almost finished with it. Its such a weird feeling, and I can definetely say that this has been a pretty good story for me so far. I like it a lot :)

I'm not sure what music could go with this, maybe _Whispers in the Dark_ by Skillet or something. That's all I can think of at the moment.

Anyways, I'll stop blathering and let you read!

**Disclaimer:** Nada

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Chapter Twenty Seven: The Ending of an Era

_The __Hogwarts Express rumbled along an unseen path as the blinding white light pierced through the window and startled me from an uneasy sleep. _I opened my eyes and stared into the light for the longest time until I felt a hand slide down my arm and tighten around my wrist.

"You need to fight it," Harry whispered in my ear as I felt a spasm of pain begin to ripple down near my heart. "You need to fight it Lizzie, you need to stay with me…" His voice was fading away, but I held onto the thought of being with him with everything I had.

Suddenly, the pain rippled through my entire body and it felt as though it were enveloping me in a deadly embrace. My fingers scrabbled over something solid and I clenched it, trying desperately to hold onto myself as the rumbling beneath my feet only grew louder and more violent.

"LIZZIE!" Harry's desperate voice cut through the pain sharply and for a moment I saw the flash of his emerald eyes. He was with me; I just had to hang on.

I cried out in agony as I felt my body tear at the seams and suddenly I was on the floor of the train. The pain was too much and I felt myself curl into a ball reflexively, but what I did not expect to feel was Harry's hands on my shoulder. I bit my lip in fury as tears welled up in my eyes, but I refused to let the pain win. _You've been through worse; you've been through worse…_ I chanted over and over, trying to calm myself and control whatever was going on within me.

"We're almost there Lizzie—hang on," Harry consoled as he gently rubbed my back. "Please hang on."

His voice sounded distant, unreal almost, but I felt him there and his presence was the only presence I needed. I lifted my hand weakly and latched onto his, which rested on my shoulder; I squeezed it and felt him squeeze back. "Thanks…for everything…" I whispered and felt my body become as light as a feather, and before I knew it I was sinking into a soft, warm sleep.

"Oh Lizzie," Harry's voice swirled through my mind. "No Lizzie, don't give into it; I need you with me, I need you to fight Voldemort—" Suddenly, his voice was cut off by a sob and I felt water splash onto my cheek. "Lizzie I need you!" He was squeezing my fingers, trying to get some response out of them, but I was in too deep of a sleep to squeeze back. "Lizzie!"

I was conscious, but my body was paralyzed; I couldn't open my eyes and show him I was alive, I couldn't squeeze his fingers to let him know I heard him, I couldn't tell him I was going to be here until the end…I couldn't tell him I loved him.

_I love you, oh Merlin Harry, I love you,_ I thought wildly, hoping that for some reason he might be able to read my thoughts. I pushed it towards him, but I could still hear him sobbing. _Harry listen to me! Harry I love you, you have to be strong for me!_ There were so many things I wanted to tell him, so many things he needed to hear before he fought Voldemort again…I needed to tell him I loved him; he needed my love.

But I couldn't tell him anything, my soul and body were caught in limbo and I was unsure of how to slide back into my body without dying for real this time. I was helpless, just weakly clinging onto the corporeal remains of Elizabeth Jane Dumbledore; I needed to find a stronger bond, I needed to _do_ something.

Suddenly, I was crying and I felt a trickle of water slide out from under my eyelids. _Please, oh Merlin please let me go back, _I begged with everything I had. I couldn't leave Harry alone—I could never leave Harry alone. _Please let me go back!_

And then, as if I was being granted a miracle, I heard a roaring wind that blocked out every other noise, and shortly after I felt my fingers and toes tingling. The feeling spread throughout the rest of my body, and suddenly I jerked forward and gasped as my soul slid back into my body once more.

I fell into Harry's arms, and I grabbed his shoulders and held him as his arms found their way around my own shoulders. "I wasn't ready to say goodbye," I breathed into his shirt and tried to eliminate the space between us. "I wasn't ready to go."

"Thank Merlin," Harry whispered back and pulled me into his chest. "I wasn't ready to let you go, I wasn't ever ready to let you go." He was trembling with relief, and his heart was pounding in his chest, but he continued to hold onto me as if I were the only thing in the world keeping him from dying.

"Oh Harry…"

&

Suddenly, everything was cold and bitter; the real world, the world with all of its darkness was enveloping us once again. We were no longer immortals, we were no longer angels. We were human once again, and everything that had happened seemed to fade away from our minds as what we were about to face continued to draw nearer.

"It's time," Harry said quietly and laced his fingers with mine. "You don't have to do this—"

"You underestimate me Harry," I interrupted tartly and glanced his way. "I have just as much right to kill Voldemort as you do." Looking out the window, I noticed that rain began to fall in droves, and soon all I could see was the pearly gray of the sky.

"We have to leave now," He told me again, and we both got up and left our compartment. We walked down the narrow path between compartments and before long we were at the doors, which had sprung open. "Can you do this?" He asked as he placed his hands on my face.

"I can do anything as long as I'm with you," I promised him and laced my fingers with his again. Pushing the stray hair away from my face as the wind moved it into my face; I looked out into the darkness and prepared to jump.

"NOW!" Harry shouted and suddenly we were flying through the air and hoping for a soft landing.

And soon, we thudded to the ground and I rolled into Harry and he grabbed me around my shoulders. I felt all my breath leave my lungs and couldn't see anything for a moment, but soon the blackness faded away and I could see again.

Harry squeezed my shoulders and he whispered, "I'm with you until the end Lizzie, we're in this together."

I nodded into his chest and slowly we pushed ourselves off the ground and stared into the darkness of the night, which had so readily encompassed the entire clearing where Voldemort staged the final act of his play.

"How is that possible?" A snake-like voice weaved its way through the trees, and suddenly at least a dozen Death Eaters were pouring out of the darkness and making a large circle around us. "How are you still alive? How did you not die?"

Feeling protective, I put my arm in front of Harry and shielded him from the piercing words coming from the woods. "If you want to get Harry, you're going to have to go through me," I said gravely and kept my eyes trained on where the voice was coming from.

"I've already done that and succeeded," The voice said lazily, and suddenly Voldemort's cloaked form whirled out of the darkness and he stared at me with those sickening red eyes. "You remember that, correct?" He smirked and pulled out his wand.

I gritted my teeth and even though I felt Harry's hand snake over mine, I was still throwing daggers at Voldemort's form. I didn't have a wand, but that didn't matter anyways: I could kill him with my bare hands.

"Lizzie, don't do this," Harry consoled quietly as I began to stand. "You don't need to do this."

I ignored him and wrenched my hand out of his and stood. "I'm going to kill you Voldemort, and this time it'll be permanent," I snarled and stepped in front of Harry.

"Lizzie," Harry repeated urgently.

Letting my anger get the best of me, I surged forward without even thinking and heard Harry's shout of agony before I felt a spell hit my chest. Pain rippled across my chest with a fury, and I could even feel the spell pulse through my veins and into my heart. I had no idea what Voldemort had just done to me, but suddenly, I was flying through the air and I landed on my back, sliding into Harry. Wheezing, I tried to push myself off the ground and clutch my chest at the same time, but it was nigh impossible.

Gasping, I turned and grasped Harry's wrist and realized he had been hit with another torturous spell I didn't even see. I gasped and scrabbled over to him, trying to make sure he was alright.

"I told you not to," He panted and managed to clutch my other hand with his fingers. "We have to work together." Leaning closer to me, I winced as I saw him flinch in pain. "You can still protect me."

With our fingers linked, I leaned back into him and realized that a weak tenor of protection still remained, despite the trials we had been through. The tips of my fingers tingled where they touched Harry's and I looked up into the emerald gems of his eyes and smiled. "Together," I whispered quietly and together we stood.

Voldemort smirked and laughed menacingly as he watched our unified attempt at killing him. "What do you think that will do little children?" He said scathingly and raised his wand. "Prepare to die again."

I looked over at Harry and he looked over at me, our eyes met and I nodded.

Swiftly, Harry pulled out his own wand and at the same moment Voldemort cast the Killing Curse, Harry cast a protective spell and the two jets of colored light met in the middle of the clearing, causing a great explosion of light and sound to occur.

I squeezed Harry's hand and used the connection we had to pour my power into the spell, hoping desperately that together, our combined strength would be enough to finally rid the world of Voldemort.

"Don't let go, don't ever let go," Grandpa Albus' voice swirled throughout my head, giving me all the willpower in the world that I needed.

I felt Harry trembling, but leaned into him so that he would feel my strength joined with him. I squeezed his hand tighter and cried, "I'm here Harry, I'm not letting go!" I watched the eruption of power in fascination, and saw the beams of light flaring out across the entire clearing. Wind blew ferociously and struck me deaf, but all I focused on was joining my power with Harry's.

Suddenly, the world fell silent and all I could see was Voldemort's terrified face, pale against the red and gold light that covered the entire landscape. His sickly eyes were widened in fear, and his slit-like nostrils were flared in suppressed emotion. He was watching his death before it even happened and it was horrifying him beyond belief.

"This is it Voldemort," I said calmly, my voice resonating through our world. I realized that the only people who had crossed to this strangely sacred place were him and I, and for some reason I was strangely content. "This is your last moment on earth."

"You'll be sorry!" He shouted at me. "You'll be cursed until your dying day! THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!" He screamed again and his screeching resonated around the clearing. "NOOO!"

I turned into Harry as the spell began to diminish and Voldemort's body was erupting into flames. I turned away from the roaring noise and the surge of power that had rippled throughout the clearing as Voldemort's body burst into flames.

Harry put his free arm around my shoulders and held me to him as we both fell to the ground, sobbing in relief. He dropped his wand and pulled me into him and together we cried in joy as Voldemort's body continued to burn brightly against the dark clearing.

"We did it, we did it," I repeated over and over as my head fell onto Harry's shoulder. "We finally got rid of him, we finally did it Harry," I said, crying myself hoarse. I was so relieved, and I felt a joyous and peaceful feeling spread throughout my body from limb to limb. "Oh Merlin," I croaked. "We finally did it."

"He's gone," Harry said weakly. "He's finally gone." He tightened his hold on my shoulders and fell into me. Sighing in relief, I could feel his body go limp with the feeling of final freedom, with the feeling of the ending of a nightmare.

His nightmare.

My revenge.

It was all over.

Oh Merlin, it was all over.

Good, bad, ugly? lol. Let me know!


	28. New Beginnings

Alright everybody, I'm back with the second to last chapter of this story. It's a bittersweet thing for me, it really is. I can't even believe I'm almost finished!

So, this chapter's kind of long, just a fair warning. I was surprised at its length to be honest with you.

Oh, and there's a part toward the end that seems like it shouldn't be there, but it sets up the epilogue and I did that purposely because it helps you understand what's going to happen in the next chapter. Personally, my favorite part is at the end with Hermione, Ron, Harry and Lizzie. It seemed so much like the actual books and I was just thrilled to have written it.

Soundtrack: _My Name is Lincoln_ by Steven Jablonsky in the beginning, followed by _Breathe_ by Michelle Branch at the end.

**Disclaimer:** Still nada.

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Chapter Twenty Eight: New Beginnings

_To __walk out of the Forbidden Forest was like leaving a nightmare behind, it was like letting a part of myself go and knowing that it would never return to me. _I was content, I was calm, but most of all I felt relieved; the feeling seeped through my body like water, and just knowing that Voldemort was gone made me realize that everything was going to be ok.

Harry's fingers were laced with mine, and I knew similar emotions were rushing through his head and he was also comforted by the fact that his nightmare was all over, seventeen years of his life had coexisted with fear and death, but now it was all gone. He was free; he was truly free of the ultimate responsibility that hung over his head.

We were saved, the entire magical community, and the entire world had been saved.

I looked over at Harry and saw that he was staring over at Grandpa Albus' tomb, the marble beacon of hope that cut through the night sky. Smiling, I leaned into him and squeezed his hand while murmuring, "He was the one who gave us the strength to go on, and he was the one who led us to where we are now."

"Yeah," Harry replied in a voice that was quietly raw, and when I looked over at him, his eyes were filling with tears and something more that I couldn't place. "Yeah, he really did."

I was about to respond, but a sudden wave of emotion made the words die on my tongue. A choking sensation rippled through the back of my throat as the back of my eyes burned with unshed tears; when I blinked them furiously, Grandpa Albus' dazzling white tomb began to blur. I looked back over to Harry, who was now crying freely for everything done and not done, for everything that had happened and for everything that didn't; he cried for life.

Squeezing his hand, I stopped resisting the tears that wanted to desperately spill over, and soon they were streaming down my cheeks, much like Harry's. Together, we cried freely, even though there was a power struggle developing over the grounds.

"HARRY!" A high-pitched, female voice shrieked over the sounds of battle, which were only now rapidly approaching our ears. "LIZZIE!"

Looking in the direction of the sound, I saw Hermione racing across the grounds, her face lit up with joy. Beside her, Ron was sprinting toward us and his face displayed absolute relief and utter happiness.

"Oh thank Merlin you're alright!" Hermione cried as she flung her arms around Harry's neck. "We thought—oh we thought the worst—oh Harry!" She began sobbing as she pulled away from Harry, and quickly threw her arms around me in a similar fashion. "Oh Lizzie—we thought you had died!" She choked out and wept into my shoulder. "We heard—we knew—oh Merlin!"

"It's good to have you back mate," Ron said briefly as he hugged Harry good and hard, but we knew the only reason why he was so brief was because he didn't want to cry in front of us. "We really thought we lost you." He squeezed Harry's shoulders once more and then punched them. "Don't ever do that to us again," He smiled weakly and his eyes glittered with unshed tears. "Thank Merlin you're alright."

"I wouldn't leave you—I wouldn't leave either of you for a second," Harry promised solemnly as he clapped Ron on the shoulder. "It's all done, he's gone…it's over…" He said quietly and watched them as their faces broke out in grins. "It's all over."

Hermione grabbed his hand and squeezed it, "I knew you could do it Harry, I never doubted you for a minute," She told him fervently and continued to smile through her tears. "You've just saved the world from a terrible fate—you're going to be a hero!"

"Thank Merlin," Ron breathed as he grabbed Lizzie's hand. "Thank Merlin he's gone—you two are both heroes," He looked over at me and grinned as he continued; "Now I'm doubly sorry that I ever called you a Death Eater."

A corner of my mouth pulled up in a smirk as I remembered the very beginning of my journey with the four of them. Ronald had thought I was a Death Eater and didn't trust me—that is until I proved it to him that I wasn't one. I would never forget this journey, it had been one that had changed my life in so many ways; nothing would ever be able to describe it.

Looking to his left and right, Harry smiled at us all and pulled out his wand, "So is it time to finally get rid of Voldemort's presence once and for all?" He asked, and then nodded his head toward the heated battles that were spread out across Hogwarts' grounds. "Should we finally get rid of the evil that has shrouded this country in darkness ever since I was a child?"

I laughed and pulled out my own wand, "Of course Mr. Potter, I'd do anything to get rid of the last of these brutes." Twirling it in my fingers, my gaze traveled our little troupe, and then it meandered to the grounds; I caught flashes of red, green and gold light through the hazy, smoky face of the land and every now and then a scream of a person or hiss of a spell would pierce through the incessant roar of battle.

"We wouldn't be able to do it without you," Hermione agreed and stared determinedly at the scene displayed in front of us; her jaw was set and her eyes were flaming, and it was in this moment I knew that she finally understood what the world was about.

"Of course mate, we're not letting you have a go at this alone," Ron assented and turned to face the battle; his hazel eyes were glimmering resolutely, and his jaw was set and firm. He was ready, and this time he wasn't an awkward child anymore—Ronald Weasley was a man.

"We're in this together," I began, reciting our motto one last time.

"Forever," Ron contributed immediately as he jutted his fist in front of him.

"Until the end of time," Hermione joined in, putting her fist on top of Ron's.

"Until the end of time," Harry repeated and placed his fist on top of Hermione's.

I looked at the three of them and felt a familiar burning sensation in the back of my eyes, but even so I placed my first on top of Harry's and murmured through a raw throat, "Forever."

&

The rounding up of Voldemort's last Death Eaters wasn't especially tricky, seeing as most of them surrendered once they realized Harry had succeeded. As soon as Harry, Hermione, Ron and I, along with the rest of the Order of the Phoenix and the Hogwarts' students nabbed up the rest of them, we handed them over to the Ministry of Magic, who arrived on the scene just after the Battle of Hogwarts—as it was now known.

After that, though, I had barely any memory. Something had happened when I was fighting Bellatrix Lestrange the second time—she had escaped from the Ministry's clutches—and she hit me with some sort of curse and after I had successfully killed her, I fainted.

No one could really grasp or explain what happened to me, not even Madam Pomfrey; her best explanation was that I was overtired from fighting Voldemort and at least a dozen Death Eaters.

But then again, no one really knew that I had died for a short amount of time, and I wasn't ready to divulge that fact.

Even so, I was doing fine after a day or two in the Hospital Wing; the only thing that had really bothered me was the burning ache in my shoulder, which was where Bellatrix's curse had hit me. For some reason it throbbed unusually, almost as if it was throbbing underneath the surface, but I hardly gave it a second thought.

So, on the day I was released from the Hospital Wing and Madam Pomfrey's careful eye, I made my way to the inner courtyard, where a chipped fountain was gurgling and bubbling in the early morning mist. My fingers trailed over the roughly hewn stonework that was Hogwarts, and slowly I came up beside the fountain and sighed.

The unmistakable stench of death still lingered in the air, but it wasn't as putrid as it had been; in fact, most of the scars of battle were fading away and being reclaimed by the grounds. However, some wounds ran deep and would continue to bleed into the land, but for some reason I was certain that these people would be able to handle it. Our losses were numerous, but I knew that we could move on.

My breath lingered in the air for a split second after I exhaled, and the white mist disappeared. It had been a long journey and up until this point I had known what I was doing every step of the way; I had had something to live for, something to die for, and I knew exactly what my destiny was.

But now…well I wasn't exactly supposed to be here. I wasn't supposed to have lived, I wasn't supposed to make such a strong connection with Hermione or Ron…or Harry. My heart skipped a beat as I thought about him, with his tidy hair and piercing emerald eyes…what on earth was I going to do now?

Slowly, I lowered my fingers into the freezing water and dragged them through it, making pathways that lasted for a fraction of a second before disappearing completely, meshing with the rest of the water that was being constantly interrupted by pelting drops.

"It feels weird, doesn't it?"

Hardly able to be startled, I straightened and slowly looked over my shoulder. "Yeah," I said, smiling at Harry as he stayed leaning against the archway that lead into the castle. "It really does feel strange not having anything to battle against everyday." There was a tinge of sarcasm in my words, but I was shocked at how serious it sounded.

"Yeah," He agreed quietly and lazily started walking forward toward me. "Because that's what usually makes my day." He grinned and extended his hand, reaching for mine.

Silently, I touched his hand with my own and our fingers intertwined themselves around each other. The moment somehow completed me, and it somehow made everything ok; I leaned into him and heard his heartbeat, sure and strong against his chest. Just listening to the intimate noise made me smile, but Harry couldn't see my lips curling up, he was looking past my head and up into the early morning sky.

"Lizzie," He said softly, pulling me gently away from my reverie. "There's something I have to tell you." His fingers tightened on mine and I could hear his heartbeat picking up.

"What is it?" I asked quietly, pulling my head back from his chest. "Is something wrong?" I asked when I looked into his eyes; they were dark and light at the same time, but they were also filled with love and confusion.

"No," He said quickly. "Everything's absolutely perfect." He took his free hand and smoothed my hair away from my face and smiled. "Everything's perfect."

Suddenly I realized what he was going to say, and in some way we had already confirmed our feelings for one another in the simplest ways possible. Without waiting for him to say anything, I smiled and leaned forward to kiss him.

Our lips met in a wonderful, tender kiss that seemed to last for an entire lifetime. Slowly, his hand cupped my cheek as I wound my hand around his wrist. In a short moment, the kiss became everything that we had and we were both lost in it, breathing in each other as though we were each other's life source.

Finally, I smiled against his lips and gently pulled away. "That just about covered everything, didn't it?" I breathed and leaned my forehead against his. Our noses touched for a brief instant before his lips broke out into a smile again.

"Yes, that covered everything," He said huskily and pulled me back into another kiss that was much more passionate than before. This time, his hands cradled the back of my neck and he let himself go and gave way to the emotions he was feeling.

I touched his face gently with my hands, and traced his cheek with my fingers as we continued to kiss and let our feelings have the better of us.

This was all I had ever wanted to do with him, he meant everything to me and I was finally able to come to terms with the idea that I could possibly love Harry Potter with my entire heart. I was finally sure of myself.

Harry pulled away and put his arms around me, holding me as closely as possible. "I love you Lizzie," He murmured gently into my hair. "I think I've always loved you."

Smiling into his chest, I whispered, "I love you too."

We stood like that, folded in a tender embrace, for a long time before I finally pulled away and looked up at him. His emerald eyes were starry, almost as though he were in a daze of love. I could tell he truly loved me; Harry's emotions were always displayed on his sleeve no matter how much he tried to hide them.

He leaned over and kissed the top of my head and said, "Would you like to visit Dumbledore?" Keeping his chin on the top of my head, he waited for the answer.

"Yes," I answered quietly and felt him pull away. "Yes I do."

Together, hand in hand, we walked up to the tombstone of my noble grandfather. The white marble gleamed against the early morning sky and had been slightly dirtied during the battle, but it was no less magnificent.

As soon as we reached the white marble, I touched my free hand to it and traced the engraving before pressing my lips to it. "Merlin, I miss you Grandpa," I whispered in a low voice, but didn't care if Harry overheard me. "Thank you for everything; I couldn't have done any of this without you. I owe you my life." Tears prickled the back of my eyes, and I felt a familiar choking sensation in the back of my throat and soon I was crying over my Grandfather's grave, my tears falling onto the white marble.

Harry touched his hand to the marble beside mine, and he murmured something I couldn't hear, but soon after he pulled me into a tight hug. "He was everything to you, wasn't he?"

Not able to find the words to describe my Grandfather, I merely nodded against Harry's shirt and continued to cry. Grandpa Albus _was_ my everything; he had saved me from darkness when I was a child, and he had finally created something that I had never had: a home. He was one of the best men I had ever known.

"He's never going to leave you, you know," Harry murmured consolingly. "He's always going to be in your heart, even when you don't want him there. He'll always be there."

I pulled away from him and noticed that his eyes were shining with unshed tears. He knew exactly what I was going through, and he knew that even though someone had died they were always there…his parents, his godfather…everyone he had ever known. "I know," I murmured and leaned against him once again. "I know."

&

Amid the incessant confusion after Voldemort's death, children were still children and the end of the school year was rapidly approaching. In an honorary memory to the Last Battle, McGonagall had called off all exams and students were running wildly across the grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They hardly knew what had made the divots in the ground, or what had destroyed an entire section of wall, but they knew it was from something important.

Together, Harry, Hermione, Ron and I sat underneath a beech tree beside the lake where the Giant Squid lazily raised a tentacle out of the water. I was leaning against Harry's legs while Hermione was sitting between Ron's and resting comfortably on his chest. We sat in silence for a long time, just idly watching the children or the Giant Squid float by.

It was some sort of peacefulness that we all felt, and none of us wanted to ruin the moment, so none of us talked; the shrieks of delighted children were enough for us all.

Finally, I let my gaze wander from the groups of first and second years and I saw a red-headed girl laughing happily with a friend of hers, but then I saw her eyes shift toward the four of us grouped beside the lake. Ginny Weasley sighed and looked back at her friend and continued the conversation.

Harry, knowing exactly where my gaze had wandered, put his chin on my shoulder and said, "I don't know what to do."

"You have to do something," I admonished him gently. "You went out with her, she was waiting for you." I looked at our hands, which were currently entwined on the grass and watched his shake slightly. "I know you're nervous, but I'm sure she'll be understanding even if she is a Weasley—" I broke off to stick my tongue out at Ron before continuing, "She hasn't stomped over yet has she?"

Sighing, he nodded his head and kissed my shoulder. "I suppose you're right, I can't put it off for forever." Squeezing my hand, he stood and pulled away from me.

"Life without the ever lurking threat of Voldemort," I told him and slid back until my back was against the beech tree. "Somehow it seems to be a lot more complicated, eh?" I joked and watched his mouth break out in a grin.

"You've no idea," He told me with a slight shake of his head and smiled before turning and walking toward Ginny.

Leaning my head back, I closed my eyes and just enjoyed the peaceful, content feeling I was experiencing right now, and I never wanted it to change.

"You know that I'm not holding anything against you," Ginny said with a slight shake of her red hair. "I would never do that Harry. You feel what you feel, you don't what you don't. I could tell you felt strongly for her as soon as you met her, it just took you awhile." Grinning wickedly, she punched him in the shoulder. "It always takes boys awhile."

Laughing with her, he shrugged. "Yeah, I suppose you're right."

"And anyways, she's a Dumbledore and she's beautiful—she's everything you could ever want. Harry, Lizzie's perfect for you."

"Ginny you—"

"Don't," She said quickly and shook her head again. "I don't even want to hear it because none of what you say is true." Smiling happily, she continued, "Besides, I'm much happier not being attached to a public hero; that's a lot of stress."

He laughed gratefully and watched her laugh as well. "Yeah, I suppose you're right about that. Wouldn't want you to go mental or anything," He grinned and clapped her on the shoulder. "Try and stay sane for me, alright? And be careful who you date, I don't want anyone to be a prat like me."

"Oh sod off Potter," She retorted and folded her arms over her chest. "I've already got six brothers, I don't need a seventh."

"But how about a friend?"

She stopped and looked up at him with a bright smile on her face. "Of course," She told him. "We're always going to be friends."

He smiled and hugged her briefly. "Thanks Ginny, thanks for understanding."

"Of course," Her eyes found Lizzie who was sleeping by the beech tree. "She is really everything, isn't she?"

"Lizzie is my entire world, she's everything I need," He confessed as he watched her sleeping contentedly. "She's everything I've ever wanted."

"Good," She said. "Don't lose her Harry, don't you dare lose her."

"I won't, I'm not ever letting her go."

"My sister didn't chew your head off, way to go mate," Ron called laughingly as the crunch of dried grass signaled Harry's approach. "I'm surprised; I would have expected her temper to get the better of her. You have survived the temper of Ginevra Weasley."

My eyes fluttered open and I saw Harry standing above me, his emerald eyes fixed on mine—he was the only person who I wanted to wake up to. I smiled and he smiled back before sitting down beside me. Quickly, I pushed myself off the beech tree and placed myself in between his legs and let his arms come around my shoulders.

"Surviving the wrath of Ginny Weasley wasn't too bad Ron, you'd be surprised."

"Naturally," He shrugged and twisted Hermione's fingers with his. "I'm surprised at everything my sister's been doing these days."

Smiling on my shoulder, he said, "She understands everything." And then he tangled his fingers with mine and our hands rested in my lap. After, he lifted his head and rested it on the top of my head as he pulled me back against his chest. "She saw it long before I did Ron; she knew it was going to happen."

"I know," I interrupted and smiled. "I could see it in her eyes; I could see the resolve and the determination not to hate me. She knew long before any of us did."

Sighing, he nodded and I felt his chin brush the top of my head. "The reality is, is now that Voldemort's gone we all have to face our human lives."

"I think we'll be ok," Hermione chimed in and grinned at me from where she was sitting. "I think we'll all be ok."

"You know," I added with a tinge of humor in my voice. "I think that solving human problems is going to be pretty easy, I mean being non-human was pretty difficult there."

Harry ruffled my hair and said, "Hey, you know what I mean," but even as he said it I could hear the grin that he could barely contain in his voice. Leaning down he whispered in my ear, "Human trifles my sweet."

I burst out laughing and turned to look back at him. "Now you're just being silly—ack!" Grimacing, I felt my shoulder burning once again and then the familiar sensation of the pain pulsing down my entire body. I collapsed against Harry and I felt his arms hold me close, trying to comfort me in whatever way he could.

Hermione leaned forward as I began to whimper into Harry's shirt, and Ron followed her lead and together all three of them tried their best to comfort me through my horrible spasm of pain.

"Shh, shh," Harry murmured into my ear as he held my trembling body. "Hold on Lizzie, just hold on for me."

Hermione's small fingers touched my face and she was saying something I couldn't make out. Beside her, Ron was touching my back and rubbing it while saying something inaudible.

"Come on Lizzie, fight through this," Harry kept saying over and over as he continued to pull me closer. "You've got to fight whatever blasted thing Bellatrix did to you."

Shivering, I looked up at him and reached for his lips with my own. "Kiss me," I whispered and he instantly obeyed my command and put his lips on my own. The sheer shock of the kiss sent ripples of peace and pleasure down my spine which helped soothe the ache in my body.

He broke away and kissed my forehead as I began to calm down and settle comfortably in his arms once more. "Are you alright?" He whispered, realizing that his kiss had pulled me out of my lapse of anguish.

"Yeah…" I replied weakly and took his hand in mine. For now I would forget about what the unbearable pain could mean, for now I would forget my responsibilities to this newly developed magical community; for now I would just be wrapped up in the one person that mattered most to me. "I'm fine Harry. I'm never going to leave you, I promise."

For now, all that mattered was that everyone around me was safe, and that I had finally found a place where I could just be who I was without any fear, or without any deception. I could finally just be Elizabeth Jane Dumbledore and finally have the peace in my world that I hadn't had since I was born.

I could be free.

"We're never leaving each other," Hermione promised solemnly and leaned back against Ron once more. "Not until we take our last dying breath."

"Together," Ron started with a wry grin on his face.

"Forever," Hermione added with the same grin.

"Until the end of time," Harry said gently and the corner of his mouth quirked up in remembrance. He squeezed my fingers gently and kissed them.

"Until the end of time," I echoed and smiled at Ron and Hermione, who had become lost in one another. Finally, I turned and looked up at Harry with the same smile on my face. "I love you," I told him softly and he lowered his lips until they were a fraction above mine.

"I love you too," He responded just as softly before I reached up and our lips met in a kiss that seemed to last for all of eternity.

And this, yes this, was where I wanted to be.

&

Love it? Hate it? Sad that its almost over?

Review!


	29. Epilogue: Scars Never Really Heal

Oh Merlin guys, this is the final chapter of my story!! Its so strange, and so sad at the same time. As I was editing the story I was literally crying as I read, partially because it is a sad chapter, and partially because I'm upset that it's ending!

Anyways, this may be it but I'm still adding another little note in another chapter as a soundtrack. Also, I'm revamping some of the beginning stuff as well; it just seems appropriate now. And I'd really love some promotion of this fic too, a Youtube trailer vid, for example. I've already got a bunch of banners and stuff made for it, but I would love if someone did me a trailer!!

Soundtrack: _It's Only Life_ by Kate Voegele, followed by _All We Are_ by One Republic, followed by _Hymn to the Sea_ by James Horner (it was on the Titanic soundtrac).

So, this is it. I'll let you read it and weep for the end.

**Disclaimer:** If I hadn't owned it up to this point, what makes you think I would now?

* * *

Epilogue: Scars Never Really Heal

_**Nineteen years later…**_

_Life __after Voldemort moved fairly quickly, but at the same time it moved very slowly as well. _Before this, I had never really understood the meaning of time; now, with my life moving in such unusual ways, I began to realize what time meant.

The way your days pass with the people you love.

However, it was hardly a good idea for any of us—Harry, Hermione, Ron and I—to step back at let others clean up Voldemort's dirty work. And so, with the ending of such a terrible era, the four of us had to help pick up the broken pieces.

Until now, none of us had ever thought about the future and what the magical world after Voldemort might bring, but now everything was changing and before we knew it, the future was upon us and unfolding right in front of our eyes.

Harry, bless the brilliant man, became an amazing Auror within the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in the Ministry of Magic. Shortly after becoming an Auror, people saw fit to make him the Head of the department—none of us had any squabbles about that of course. He did defeat Voldemort after all.

Ron, always second in Harry's command, followed his footsteps into the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Most of us thought this was an odd choice for one such as Ron, but I knew that he had proven himself over and over again in the final years of Voldemort's life, and I knew that giving Ron the position right beside Harry would make the world of difference for the Aurors. Together, the two men helped reshape the office and the cleaning up of Voldemort's mess became a ten-fold easier than it would have been.

Hermione, accustomed to dividing herself from Harry, chose to take a different path and explore her opportunities in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures in the Ministry. According to Ron and Harry, back when she was in Hogwarts she had become obsessed with House-Elf rights, and so she continued her crusade well into her career. However, it became clear that House-Elf rights were not challenging enough for Miss Granger, and soon enough she transferred to the same department as Harry and Ron, except she chose to advocate for those not of pure-blood birth.

And, well, what would life be without a bit of love thrown into the mix?

Of course, Ron and Hermione ended up together—as everyone saw from the day they met. Believe it or not, it took Ron a year to muster enough guts to finally ask Hermione to marry him. They might have been young, but as I said, it was a destined match.

Ah, the wedding was a blissful one too. Simple and sweet, the two were married in the Weasley's backyard with the Burrow busying itself in the background. The crowd that Ron and Hermione's marriage drew in was spectacular thought; there must have been at least a thousand people ranging from family members to friends to people anticipating a glimpse of the famous couple sitting in the yard and watching the ceremony.

Hermione and Ron had a beautiful marriage and a beautiful love; I had never seen a love like that in my entire life. I was too young to remember my parent's relationship—though I was told it was almost exactly like Hermione and Ron—and I had been tossed around too much in my life to allow myself to view the simple things.

However, despite my rough beginnings I had a wonderful life after Voldemort. My happily-ever-after came just as Harry had killed the one person who thwarted all my attempts at a normal, simple life. Hermione and Ron might have had their simplistic, beautiful love, but Harry and I had something completely different…

The love we shared…well I suppose I could say it was special—very, very special. Although no one except seemed to understand exactly what it was all about, that didn't mind us in the least. We didn't feel the need to be formally united in front of hundreds of thousands of people—and of course the need to write it down on paper to make it official was hardly necessary.

But, due to the pushing from several of our closest friends and Harry's feelings, we did formally unite in a small—a very small—ceremony just outside the Burrow. The only ones in attendance were Hermione and Ron; they were all that mattered to us, and therefore they were the only ones to watch us become man and wife.

Despite our lack of belief in formal marriage, I can still remember the day that Harry had proposed to me. I still got a ring, he still kneeled before me and I still cried in joy. The day was so special, and so memorable that never was far from my mind when I looked into Harry's eyes…

_Slowly, we danced in a circle beneath the stars; Harry's hand pressed the small of my back until there was no space between us. I looked up at him and saw him grinning with a glimmer of amusement in his emerald eyes._

_Oh how I loved this man._

_Gently, he twirled me around until he finally pulled me in and kissed me underneath the stars, with the magical candles glowing and throwing off their radiance in our path. Our lips moved together, having perfected our kisses in such a way that both of us always felt the same magic that had been there the first time._

_His hands moved through my hair to the back of my head, and he cradled it as though it was the most precious object in the world. All the while, my own hands went to his neck and I pulled him closer to me, eager to experience the kiss. _

_Smiling into my lips, Harry pulled away and rested his forehead on mine. We stayed in that position, his eyes looking right into mine, for the longest time possible until he finally lowered his hands to mine, and took them. _

_Suddenly, he pulled away and kneeled before me, one of his hands searching in his pocket for something. And that's when I realized what was going on._

_Squeezing his hands with more pressure than I mean to, I watched him pull out a beautiful diamond ring…a beautiful, perfect diamond ring meant to fit one finger in particular. I disengaged one of my hands and put it to my mouth in shock as I watched him look back up at me, smiling the entire time._

"_Now I know you said it wasn't that important if we got married because we knew exactly how much we loved each other…but I want to get married to you Elizabeth, you are the only one for me—you are the only one that matters to me," He hesitated and took a deep breath before plunging in and asking the one question that sent shivers down my spine. "Elizabeth Jane Dumbledore, will you marry me?" _

_I closed my eyes, savoring the ultimate perfection of the moment, and then I opened them again. Tears were blurring my vision, but they were tears of profound joy. I grinned and nodded, my hand still pressed to my mouth in shock. _

_Slowly, Harry slid that ring onto the third finger of my left hand. _

"_Yes, oh Merlin yes Harry, of course I'll marry you," I said when I was finally able to catch my breath. Without waiting for him to stand up, I bent over and kissed him hard and passionately. _

_He pulled me to the ground beside him until we ended up lying in the grass next to each other, still kissing with as much love and emotion as ever._

_I pulled away, my fingers still touching his cheeks, and I looked into his eyes. "I love you Harry, I love you so much." _

_He smiled and pushed a lock of hair behind my ear as he said, "I love you too Lizzie, you're my entire world." _

The moment still dances around in my mind, even as I lie here in bed thinking about everything else that's happened up until this point, and as I think about it all I realize how wonderful everything has been; from what I've come from, to what I am now, things might have changed drastically, but it was certainly for the better.

As I think, I see Hermione and Ron's children dancing before me. Rose and Hugo, looking every bit of their parents as a child can. Of course, the closeness of our relationship permitted Harry and I to become godmother and godfather to Rose, while Ron's other siblings were godmother and godfather to the other.

I can never look back upon these memories without smiling…Hermione giving birth to Rose, that colorful, red-headed girl. And then Hugo, oh the little boy that brought such a light into Ron's life especially.

And though I was supposed to have just as much the fairytale as Ron and Hermione—though Harry and I were supposed to have that happily-ever-after—things happened to me that I couldn't explain, but now I can.

And I suppose I should begin the part where my life started crumbling so…why I sigh every time I think about all of these good memories, and why I look back upon the times before this golden age and realize that from the moment I was born I was marked for death.

Though it seemed a natural thing for any woman to want to have a child, a family of sorts, I never wanted a child. I had Harry, and he was everything I needed. If I were to have a child, I feared that I wouldn't be able to care for him or her well enough; I was so afraid that he or she would get hurt because of my inability to protect them. Even though Hermione and Ron had a wonderful child and it was simply perfect for them, I was still so frightened that my child would end up losing out on life like I did.

But then I got sick.

I simply thought it was nothing to be scared about, just a normal flu-bug or something like that, but it turned out to be much, much worse. I ended up being bedridden for at least three weeks before I could actually move again. At first I had come down with excessive vomiting, followed by a shakiness I could never curb, and then one day I ended up collapsing at work and had to be brought home. Soon after that a violent pain bloomed in my shoulder—the same shoulder that Bellatrix had hit years ago—and for some reason it began bleeding which scared me to death.

Once the bleeding had started Harry said he had had enough; he took me to St. Mungo's the following hour, and he expected them to cure me. He expected everything else to be just fine, but as soon as the Healers did their studies on me, I found out something that would change my life forever.

According to the Healers at St. Mungo's, I had been hit with such a terrible curse that there was no escaping it. The curse would kill me slowly—and painfully—until I had nothing left, until I had finally died because it weakened me so. This curse, this awful curse could not have been the doing of a Death Eater—no, it was the doing of Voldemort, not Bellatrix. The damned sorcerer was still affecting my life even after his death!

Harry, however, didn't know any of this. I refused to tell him what the Healers had said, and my plan was that I was never going to until it was absolutely necessary. He didn't need to have another added weight on his shoulders—he didn't need to worry about if today was his wife's last day to live or not.

Even so, being cursed by Voldemort changed my perspective on life, and suddenly something clicked that made me want a child desperately. I knew I couldn't leave the world without an heir of sorts, and despite my fears, the curse somehow made me see past them.

So, as soon as I was able, I told Harry I wanted to have a child and that's when Carson James Potter came into the world. Miraculously, I was in wonderful health when I had Carson, and I was also in exquisite health afterwards. I remember the day that I had Carson, oh the splendid baby boy he was—tiny and adorable, and so much like his father in every way possible.

And so, due to the sudden change in my outlook, a second child came along two years after Carson was born. This baby was christened Rowena Lily Potter, and she was a bundle of joy all her own. According to the photographs Harry kept up in our home, Rowena looked so much like his mother that it made him cry the first time he saw her. It was such a joyous moment bringing Carson and Rowena together in our home, and at last I knew that I had all the happiness I needed.

But then my luck ran quite thin again, and I became terribly ill once more.

This time…this time was so much worse than before; I was stricken down to my bed and I was unable to move for at least a month and a half. Merlin, this time I was suffering from twisting, agonizing pains that ran through my body and blood like wildfire; and then, I began to get nightmares that made me relive my worst memories that I tried so hard to forget.

Believing my life was over, I gave into the pain and horrors of everything as they consumed me, despite Harry's constant, reassuring presence. He never left my side, not even once. He was always there for me, stroking my hair or feeding me when I was too weak to lift a spoon. He was my guardian angel in the darkness, and then I realized I had to keep fighting…I had to keep fighting for Carson and Rowena, as he constantly reminded me.

Finally, eight weeks after Rowena's birth, the illness passed once more, but this time it left me in a terribly weakened state. Despite my health, I still wanted to have another child before I finally passed on…but before I could even begin to think of another baby running around, I knew it was time to tell Harry what was happening to me.

The day…that day I told Harry that I was slowly dying…well that would always leave a profound mark in my life—I could never forget the pain and terror I saw on his face the moment I let the words escape my lips.

_Slowly, gently almost, I took Harry's hands in my own as we sat down on the loveseat. I wasted several minutes, simply by squeezing his fingers, or looking down at my knees as his own fingers moved with mine. He waited, oh Merlin he waited so patiently for me to confess something that I was having trouble pulling up from my heart. _

_Without even asking, he disengaged one of his hands and moved it so he could push the hair that had fallen in front of my face out of the way. "It's ok," He told me, his voice as quiet and peaceful as ever. Leaning forward, he kissed my forehead sweetly, and when he pulled back away and simply looked at me, I knew it was time to tell him._

"_Harry…" I began, my voice shaking uncontrollably, and so I had to take a deep breath before I was even able to continue. Finally, I looked into his emerald eyes and said, "Harry there's something I have to tell you."_

_He squeezed my fingers for a brief second before saying, "I know you do….that's why I'm here with you." _

_I took a deep, slow breath, and upon exhaling I said, "There's something wrong with me." _

_Harry waited a long minute before saying, "There's nothing wrong with you Lizzie, you're absolutely perfect." He was confused by what I was saying, but he could still pick up on the fact that something was going on beneath the surface. _

"_No…that's not what I meant…" I dropped my eyes and stared at my knees for the longest time before finally saying, "Harry, I'm sick." I stiffened for a long moment, heavily anticipating what he was going to say, but even so, I didn't expect what I heard._

"_For forever?" The question was so innocent, so plainly innocent that it made my heart jerk uncomfortably. His fingers played with my diamond engagement ring, and finally when I didn't say anything he asked, "What happened?"_

_My voice surprised me when I finally was able to talk again. Through tears that had suddenly built up, I choked out, "Voldemort…Voldemort hit me with a curse all those years ago…Harry…" But I couldn't even bring myself to say the last bit—to tell Harry I wasn't going to live forever. _

"_What is it Lizzie?" He asked, when I didn't finish my sentence. "What's wrong?" He put a finger under my chin and made me look up at him, and when I saw the fear in his eyes I began crying. "Oh Lizzie," He said and pulled me to him, and carefully he held me in his arms as I continued to cry into his shirt. Continually stroking my hair, he finally spoke once more, but this time his own voice was shaking. "When will you get better?"_

_I stopped crying and stiffened in his arms; he still didn't realize that I wasn't…that I wasn't going to live. "Harry," I said quietly, my voice muffled by his shirt. When I pulled away to look at him, I saw that he was crying as well. He knew…he knew, but he couldn't bring himself to accept it. "Oh Harry, I'm not going to get better…Harry I'm going to…I'm going to…" Closing my eyes so I couldn't look at his face, I finally managed to whisper, "Harry I'm not going to make it." _

_By this time, he was full-out crying and he pulled me to his chest once again saying, "No, oh Merlin no, I won't let that happen Lizzie—there has to be a way!" _

_I started sobbing again as he pulled me to him, and this time I didn't know what to say in response. I was so lost, and so afraid of leaving him…I didn't want to die, I was so scared…_

From then on, our lives changed miraculously. I lived as if every day was my last day, and Harry was always right beside me. After a while, though, I told him to go back to his job, to go back to a normal life, and after much pushing, he finally did. For a long time my health remained in a positive state, despite the illness that was rapidly deteriorating my body.

A few years after I had Rowena, I was able to have another child, but this child would be my last. Harry and I welcomed Albus Severus Potter into the world three years after Rowena's birth, and this time our child looked more like me than anything. Not only did Albus have the same twinkling eyes as his grandfather, but he carried the same name. I knew that while I remained on this earth it was Albus who linked me to my grandfather, and for some reason I was able to remain happy with that thought.

Despite the rapid progression of the illness, I was able to live through the rest of my life smoothly; after Albus' birth I didn't get sick again, but I could tell that the next few years would be my last. However, I wasn't going to die before I saw each of my children off to Hogwarts—I would do anything and everything to make sure I saw Carson, Rowena and Albus board the Hogwarts Express for the first time.

Somehow, I think it was that utter will power, and the fact that I was living such a wonderful life with Harry and the rest of my family that kept me alive for as long as it did. I never let a day go by without being thankful for whatever positive came my way, and soon enough I was granted my wish.

Carson went off to school.

Rowena went off to school.

Albus went off to school.

I had seen them all board that train, and I had seen them all come home each year with the happiest looks on their faces as they came to greet their parents once more.

But then, I got ill again. Carson was in his seventh and final year at Hogwarts, Rowena was in her fifth year and little Albus was in his second. And without me even realizing it, Christmas would be the last time I saw my children again.

And now, I lay here, looking up into the ceiling above my bed, feeling the pain in my shoulder threaten to take me over once more. I feel a gentle pressure on my right hand, and looking to the side I see Harry kneeling beside me, his face distraught as always.

"I love you Lizzie, Merlin, I love you so much," He tells me, his voice desperate and soft at the same time. He looks so lost, so vulnerable and utterly scared as he watches my eyes fade several times.

Smiling weakly, I answer, "I love you too Harry; you brought me through this all—you brought me through everything. I love you so much." With my eyes, I beg him to come close enough for me to kiss him since I'm too weak to move forward.

And of course, Harry quickly lurches forward, but then he stops. Gently, he lowers his face near mine and our lips meet in a gentle, sweet kiss that seems to seal everything for eternity. He knows this is the last one he'll ever receive from me—he knows that this is it.

Someone in the corner of our room begins to sob loudly and as I shift my head to the side I see a bushy mane of hair lost in the sweater of a man with red hair. Both of them look up as my eyes rest on them and at once I see red, puffy eyes and tears falling freely.

"Oh Lizzie," Hermione blubbers as she runs forward and kneels beside me. "Why? You have to be strong!" Without warning, she seizes my hand and says, "Fight it Lizzie! You have to fight it!" It's almost as though she can't go on without me, and I'm stunned.

"It's ok Hermione," I reply softly. The effort to speak is draining on my last energy, but I have to let her know that everything's going to be fine when I'm gone. "Just watch…after Harry for me…and the children…" Unable to finish my sentence, I nod at her and she understands.

"Anything for you Lizzie," Ron answers for her since she's already dissolved into hysterical sobs once more. "Of course we'll take care of Harry and the kids." He smiles at me, but I can tell it's a strained one; he knows my life is ending too.

As I lay here, I recount every good, blessed thing that has come into my life; the feel of Harry's lips on my own, the rushing of his heartbeat as he proclaimed his love for me so many years ago…the light in Carson's eyes the moment I gave birth to him, and then Rowena's sleepy face…Albus, who reminded me so much of my grandfather…the end of an era…the end of a dark, tragic era that had marked the beginning of my life, and now it marks the end of it too.

Smiling tiredly up at Harry, I squeeze his hand one last time and let the light surrounding me give way to the darkness. "I love you," I breathe out slowly, and the vision of Harry resting his head on my stomach and Ron holding a shaking Hermione begins to fade before me. I am hovering between life and death, and I close my eyes against the glaring light that reminds me so much of that day I encountered my grandfather once before.

"I'm so proud of you Lizzie," My grandfather's voice interrupts the gentle fading of life. When I turn, I see him standing their before me, his eyes twinkling happily as he sees me once more. "You've done so much; you've done everything I've ever asked for…" He pauses and a somber look stretches over his already wrinkled features. "I'm so sorry that your life has to come to an end."

I stand in that in-between world and look at my grandfather. I want to say something, tell him it will be alright, but I can't force the words out. Too much of me wants to remain back where Harry is—back where my life is.

"I love you too," Harry's voice says, but it sounds as though he is a million miles away. I feel head above my heart and I know he's straining to hear my heartbeat as it beats slower and slower against my ribcage. "I love you so much," His voice says again and I can feel the squeeze of his hand around mine, as well as the tears splashing onto my face.

"Oh Merlin I'll miss you Harry, I love you," I say, but I know he can't hear me; by now I'm too far gone for anybody of the mortal world to understand me. I know that I must face the fact that I am not part of that world anymore…I'm no longer mortal.

Slowly, I let my hand slide through Grandpa Albus' as a smile makes its way onto my lips. "It's time, isn't it?" I ask softly, even though I know the answer. I can feel my body floating, I can feel my heartbeat come to a stop, and I can feel my soul being released from the confines of my body. Somewhere in the distance, I hear great, heaving sobs and I know they belong to Harry.

"Yes," He answers in that same, serene voice as the mortal life behind me begins to fade away. "It is time Lizzie."

Once again, I feel as though my life has come full circle; I came to my grandfather nearly dead, and I am with my grandfather now that I have passed on. I feel like a child beside the man who has cared for her since she was just a little girl, I feel like I can leave in peace.

Despite the sorrow I feel for leaving the ones I love behind, I know that I'll be safe once again. I am now in the arms of my grandfather, and now that's all that matters. I am ending my life with the man who had brought me out of darkness, and this is exactly where I want to be.

And now, as I look back on the life I once had, I realize I've been given a great many gifts in my life, what from joy and life, but I've also been given death and peace. Contentedly, I squeeze my grandfather's hand and my thoughts turn back toward Harry once more.

And through Harry I have been given the greatest gift I have ever been able to know. I have been given such a gift that has allowed me to see through the darkest of times; I have been given love—his love.

And love,

_Well, love is the greatest gift of all._

&

The End.

I can't believe its really over, but it is! :O Wow.

Reviews? This is the last chapter after all... :)

On another note: as for Harry Potter fanfiction, I have another two in mind. One is where Hermione becomes a Death Eater, and another is if Voldemort had a daughter. They're really in the rough planning stages now, but I'll let you know if something happens--so put me on alert!


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